Vice President and opposition leader Leni Robredo on Sunday said the coronavirus pandemic in the country can’t be solved by charter change.
(Mark Balmores / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Speaking on her radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni,” Robredo questioned the moves to amend the Constitution instead of focusing on the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“Dapat iyong parati natin ditong target ang tinututukan natin ngayon lahat ng makakatulong para mahinto na itong COVID-19 transmission sa atin (Our target should always focus now on all efforts that can help to stop COVID-19 transmission),” she said.
The vice president was asked to react on the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines’ (LMP) call to amend the Constitution to empower local government units and increase their internal revenue allotment apart from lifting restrictions on foreign investments in certain industries.
“Iyong gagastusin natin sa Change change sana gastusin na lang natin sa testing kits, gastusin natin sa hospital (I hope what we will spend for Charter change is for testing kits and our expenses in hospitals),” she stressed.
Aside from this, Robredo also raised the administration’s misplaced priorities while the country continued to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ang dami nating pinagkakaabalahan—anti-terror law, pagpapasara ng ABS-CBN—na hindi naman ito yun sumasagot sa pagpahinto ng COVID-19 (We are so busy with a lot of things—anti-terror law, closure of ABS-CBN—that are not the solutions to stop the spread of COVID-19),” she said.