Sen. Grace Poe said that the focus on the joint voting by Congress made the so-called People's Initiative for Charter change (Cha-cha) flawed at the onset and that the attention instead should have been on explaining the provisions that required amendments in the 1987 Constitution.
"It is inherently wrong. Maling-mali ang sinasabi sa tinatawag nilang People's Initiative (PI) kasi method na ang pinag-uusapan, voting jointly, imbes na yung mga probisyon na kailangang palitan (It's very wrong that their calling it PI because their talking about the method, voting jointly, instead of the provisions that need to be changed)," Poe said.
If the intention of the movers of PI was on the economic amendments, then the specific provisions should have been spelled out in the petition.
"Bakit hindi na lang inilagay na: 'Sa ating mga kababayan, payag ba kayo na baguhin natin ang mga probisyon na nakatutok sa ekonomiya?' Kaso ang pinapapirmahan sa mga tao ay 'yung tungkol sa Congress voting jointly. So, malinaw na malinaw na meron silang ibang pakay dito (They could have put: 'To our countrymen, are you in favor of changing the economic provisions?' However, people were being asked to sign about Congress voting jointly. So it's clear that they have an agenda here)," Poe said.
The senator said things got worse with reports and actual testimonies of individuals that money or assistance was given in exchange for their signatures.
"Dahil sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, ang ating mga kababayan ay napipilitan na lang, sige kahit P100, ganun kamura ang buhay ngayon na sa ganun kaliit na halaga ay napapirma (With how difficult life is right now, our countrymen are being forced into it, it's okay for P100, that's how cheap life is right now that for that price they will sign)," she said.
"Kasalanan ba nila 'yun? Di ba ibig sabihin lang nun marami pa tayong trabahong dapat gawin at hindi nakatutok sa isyu na sinasabi nilang napakaimportante itong pinapapirma nila? Hindi ba trabaho, presyo ng bilihin at katatagan ng ating Republika ang mas mahalaga (Is that their fault? Doesn't this mean that we have a lot of work to do and not focused on issues that they're saying are important and should be signed on? Isn't employment, price of goods, and the resilience of the Republic more important)," she added.
Poe said she is not totally shutting her doors to Cha-cha, but stressed that it should be done for the welfare of the Filipinos.
The chairperson of the committee on economic affairs said the Senate has passed three key laws focused on boosting the economy and investments, while still safeguarding the interests of the Filipinos.
She identified the three laws as the amendments to the Public Service Act (PSA), Trade Liberalization Act, and Foreign Investments Act.
"Hindi po totoo na pagdating sa aspeto ng ekonomiya ay may malaking pagkukulang dahil yung mga major na batas naman ay nagawa natin (It's not true that in the aspect of the economy there is a huge inadequacy since we crafted the major laws)," Poe said.
"Kung meron mang dapat ayusin ay ang pagtutol ng ilan sa PSA. Siguro, pwedeng magsama ang Kongreso, Senado at mga mamamayan na doon natin resolbahan sa Supreme Court (SC) itong ibang kakulangan sa probisyon ng ekonomiya (If there's something that we need to fix is some people's rejection of PSA. Maybe, Congress and Senate as well as the citizens can come together and resolve in the SC the lapses in the economic provisions)," Poe added.