By Christina Hermoso The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), including its 13 regional ecumenical councils (RECs), has expressed alarm over the proposed shift by the government to federalism. (NCCP / MANILA BULLETIN) “We are deeply concerned that the proponents of Charter Change have a misconstrued understanding of development that will benefit only a selected few,” the Church group said as they cited the bigger problems that had been overlooked. They pointed out that the proposed revision of the Constitution seeks to allow foreign businesses to own larger shares of various ventures that were safeguarded by the present Charter. In addition, the shift “can also expand and strengthen the power of political dynasties and constrict the democratic space in our society further,” the Church leaders stressed. “This move to shift the form of government will push our people further into the margins as more taxes will be imposed on the people to support new structures and officials,” they said. The NCCP is the country’s largest fellowship of mainline protestant churches, while RECs are ecumenical fellowships of churches of different denominations in the provinces and regions. The 1987 Constitution, the group said, has far better provisions. “While the 1987 Constitution is far from perfect, moves to change the Constitution that will undermine our national sovereignty, the Bill of Rights, and other checks and balances for a truly democratic society will surely be for the worse,” the Church leaders said.