Oppositionist and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Saturday accused the Duterte administration of being behind the new push for amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Zarate made the accusation although it was the League of Municipalities of the Philippines headed by Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor Luis “Chavit’ Singson, who had launched a signature campaign proposing Charter revision. The organization of municipal mayors is independent from the national government.
Zarate, the House deputy minority leader, chided government for allegedly pursuing charter change notwithstanding the COVID 19 crisis confronting the country and the whole world.
"The obsession with Charter change shows another misplaced priority of the Duterte administration even if it is yet to fully address the COVID pandemic in our country,” said Zarate.
He added: “The move for Cha-cha especially now is a waste of time, effort and the much needed funds that should be rechanneled in fighting COVID-19.”
On Friday, Singson disclosed during the Laging Handa press briefing that 1,488 municipal mayors are batting for the amendment of two provisions of the Constitution.
One of the the heavily backed proposals is the lifting of restrictions on foreign investments in industries currently limited to ownership by Filipinos.
According to Singson, the local executives also want to institutionalize a Supreme Court decision, popularly known as the Mandanas ruling, that sought to ensure fair division among local government units of taxes collected by the national government.
The House Committee on Constitutional Amendments already started deliberations on 12 bills and resolution proposing to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Committee action is expected to resume when Congress reopens on July 27.
"This Cha-cha move is utterly preposterous at this time and should be junked. The DILG and LMP personnel and budget being utilized for Cha-cha should be realigned and used instead to fortify our health care system by buying more reliable personal protective equipment (PPEs) for our health workers, conducting genuine mass testings and intensifying pro-active contact tracing," said Zarate.
He said the proposed budget to amend the Charter should instead be used for the purchase of relief goods “and can be added to the social amelioration program (SAP) to be given to lockdown-affected families.”
"Now they are saying that Cha-cha can give more budget to municipalities by allowing foreign ownership of businesses and a higher share in all taxes,” noted Zarate.
“But once Cha-cha is ongoing, what is to stop them to extend term limits, allow 100 percent ownership of lands and other proposals to the detriment of Filipinos and our country,” he stressed.