FILIPINOS are split about the ongoing Charter change initiatives in Congress even as close to eight of 10 Filipinos said they have little to no knowledge about the 1987 Constitution, a survey conducted by the Pulse Asia from March 15 to 19 indicated.
The survey involved 1,200 adult respondents and had a margin of error of ±2.8 percent.
Amid the public discussions related to the proposed economic revisions in the Charter in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Pulse Asia survey showed 45 percent of the respondents are against amending the Constitution, which is down by 11 percentage points from 56 percent in September 2022.
On the other hand, 41 percent said they are in favor of Charter change, which is 10 percentage points from 31 percent also in September last year.
Some 14 percent (from 13 percent) of the respondents said they don’t have any position on the issue.
Of those who opposed Charter change, 31 percent (down from 38 percent) said it should not be amended now or any other time, while 14 percent (down from 18 percent) said the Constitution should not be amended now but maybe amended sometime in the future. Of this 14 percent, 8 percent said it may be amended during the current administration and 6 percent said it should be done by the next administration.
Pulse Asia said majority or 55 percent from the Visayas are in favor of amending the Constitution, followed by Luzon (41 percent), Mindanao (37 percent) and Metro Manila (21 percent).
Among socioeconomic classes, Cha-cha is favored by those belonging to Class ABC (47 percent), followed by D (41 percent), and E (38 percent).
The survey also showed that majority or 51 percent from the National Capital Region and 59 percent from Mindanao are against Cha-cha, while 40 percent from Visayas and 39 percent in Luzon are also not in favor of it.
Likewise, majority from the socio-economic class E (52 percent) are opposed to Charter revisions, followed by class D (44 percent) and ABC (34 percent).
CON-CON
Pulse Asia also found that an almost equal number of respondents are either in favor of the formation of a constitutional convention (con-con) to amend the Constitution (34 percent), not in favor (30 percent) and do not know if they agree or not (28 percent).
Most of those backing the con-con mode are those from the Visayas (49 percent), Mindanao (43 percent), Luzon (27 percent) and Metro Manila (21 percent); and from the socioeconomic class E (36 percent), followed by D (34 percent) and ABC (28 percent).
On the other hand, 36 percent from Metro Manila, 34 percent from the Visayas, 29 percent from Luzon and 27 percent in Mindanao are opposed to con-con.
Likewise, 38 percent of those belonging to the socioeconomic class ABC, 37 percent from class E, and 28 percent from class D are also against the con-con mode.
The House of Representatives has passed a measure proposing the technical details for the establishment of a hybrid con-con to discuss proposed economic changes to the Constitution.
The Senate, on the other hand, has yet to come up with its position on the issue of amending the Constitution, with majority of the senators cold to the proposed constitutional assembly as pushed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes.
CONSTITUTION
The Pulse Asia survey showed that 79 percent (up from 74 percent) of the respondents have little to no knowledge about the Constitution, while 21 percent (down from 27 percent) have sufficient knowledge.
The poll firm said majority of the respondents are against seven proposed amendments to the Charter: allowing foreign individuals and companies to utilize Philippine national resources (76 percent), allowing foreign individuals and companies to own residential and industrial lands (72 percent), and removing limits on shares of stocks in Philippine corporations that may be owned by foreign individuals and companies (67 percent).
The other proposed revisions are the lifting of the prohibition on foreign ownership of communication companies (53 percent), lifting the prohibition on foreign ownership of utilities like electricity (55 percent), extending the terms of office of national and local elective officials (56 percent), and allowing foreign individuals and companies equal ownership in mass media and advertising (57 percent).
The survey also showed that close to four of 10 people are either in favor or not in favor of allowing foreign individuals and companies to practice their profession in the country (40 percent in favor, 45 percent not in favor), and changing the present unitary system of government to a federal system of government (38 percent in favor, 42 percent not in favor).
ILL EFFECTS
At the House, Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) said that while the latest Pulse Asia survey showed that most Filipinos are against Charter change, there is still a need to “give an extra effort in exposing the ill effects of this move both economically and politically so that more Filipinos would see Cha-cha for what it is.”
“(It’s) a ploy for politicians to have longer term limits and for foreigners to have more control in our country,” said the militant lawmaker, who is a member of the Makabayan bloc.
Castro said the survey result shows that Cha-cha is clearly a divisive issue and “it will only worsen the polarization among Filipinos because what the majority wants is for the Marcos administration to focus on the country’s immediate and pressing problems like the high prices of commodities and low salaries, not Cha-cha, while some just follow what the administration wants.” — With Wendell Vigilia
