Bayan Muna urges Senate to publicly declare Cha-cha dead
Published Apr 7, 2023 05:43 am
A Pulse Asia survey showing the unpopularity of moves to amend the 1987 Constitution should serve as a warning to lawmakers bent on pursuing Charter change, Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares said.
“The recent Pulse Asia survey showed that an overwhelming 76 percent of the people do not want foreign corporations to exploit our natural resources, one of the main reasons for the move to amend the Constitution,” Colmenares said in a statement.
“The people recognize the threat of corporations ravaging our forests for minerals and other countries exploiting our waters in the West Philippine Sea if Cha-cha is allowed,” he added.
Moreover, Colmenares said Bayan Muna’s hard earned Supreme Court victory that voided the joint exploration between the Philippines and China will be overturned if legislators constitutionally allow 100 percent foreign owned corporations “to exploit our fishing, oil and mineral resources in the WPS.”
Colmenares was then Bayan Muna General Counsel when the SC petition was filed in 2008.
He pointed out 72 percent of Filipinos also do not want to delete the constitutional provision prohibiting foreigners from buying our lands.
“This will not only further destroy our agriculture and food security, but also increase the price of land beyond the reach of ordinary Filipinos,” he pointed out.
Colmenares also noted that 56 percent of Filipinos oppose term extensions that are proposed in the current Charter change bid, while only 31 percent supports the idea.
“The idea to give the President two terms instead of the current one term, and congressmen to extend their 3-year-term to 5 years is opposed by more than half of the population, a warning that self-serving motives to amend the Constitution will only generate opposition,” he said.
In fact, Colmenares said 57 to 67 percent of Filipinos are opposed to any move to allow foreigners 100 percent control of Philippine corporations including our media and schools.
“The Pulse Asia survey only showed that the overwhelming majority of the Filipino people oppose the very reason why there is a move to amend the Constitution—deleting economic provisions in the Constitution protecting Filipinos from rapacious foreign interest and allowing politicians another jab at term extension and eliminating term limits,” he said.
Colmenares warned any move to push Charter change could affect the political fortunes of pro-“Cha-cha” candidates in the 2025 and even the 2028 elections.
“We urge the House of Representatives, especially those who voted for ‘Cha-cha’ to publicly withdraw their support for it,” he said.
“We also urge the Senate to resist the moves at amending the Constitution and publicly declare that Cha-cha is dead,” he appealed.