Black propaganda? Dalipe slams Pulse Asia survey on Cha-cha
At A Glance
- House Majority Leader Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe wonders out loud if the latest Pulse Asia survey on Filipinos' stance on Charter Change (Cha-cha) was simply black propaganda.
Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Is the latest Pulse Asia survey on Filipinos' stance on Charter Change (Cha-cha) just black propaganda?
House Majority Leader Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe can't help but ask this question as he slammed the wording and composition of the March poll, the results of which indicated that a whopping 74 percent of Filipinos didn't want the 1987 Constitution amended as of now.
Dalipe condemned the inclusion of “irrelevant” questions in the survey, such as term extension for national and local elective officials, changing the presidential system to a parliamentary system of government, shifting from bicameral to a unicameral legislature, and allowing the foreigners to exploit the country's natural resources.
"Why include questions that people don't want and are not related to the ongoing process in Congress? Is this black propaganda?" Dalipe asked.
The survey results came just after the House of Representatives approved Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7, which aims to amend specific economic provisions of the existing Charter. Thus the term, "economic Cha-cha".
RBH no.7 has been sent to the Senate, where a similar resolution known as RBH 6 is also being examined at the subcommittee level.
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Dalipe expressed frustration with the survey's apparent attempt to derail the constitutional reform process. "Including unrelated questions in the survey only serves to confuse and mislead the public," he said.
The majority leader asserted that the best way to gauge public opinion on Charter amendmnets is through a plebiscite, not surveys.
“The people’s voice should be heard directly through a plebiscite, not through biased surveys. The best course of action is to pass it in the Senate and let the people decide through a plebiscite,” he said.
Just days earlier, another pollster, Tangere, bared results of their own survey, which showed that 52 percent of Filipinos were in favor of Cha-cha.