‘ALL ABOUT GREED’ | Ongoing charter change push not true people’s initiative, says Hontiveros

January 15, 2024 , 11:48 AM

By Beatrice Puente

(January 15, 2024) – Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday said the campaign to gather signatures to revise the 1987 Constitution through a people’s initiative does not truly reflect the will of the citizens due to the process by which it is being undertaken.

Hontiveros, a member of the two-person minority bloc in the upper chamber, stressed that the push does not deserve to be called a people’s initiative in the first place as she noted a “well-oiled campaign” fueling it.

“It’s all about greed and the desire to act with zero accountability to the nation,” said Hontiveros. “The campaign only wants both houses of Congress to ‘vote jointly’ during a constituent assembly, thus weakening the Senate’s voice and participation in the process of charter change.”

The current text of Article XVII, Section 1 does not specify if the Senate and the House of Representatives should vote jointly or separately in a constituent assembly, one of the three methods of amending the charter.

Hontiveros said the joint vote would necessarily exclude the upper chamber from any meaningful involvement in charter change proceedings.

“Ang tanging hangarin ng mga nasa likod nitong people’s initiative ay maeetsapwera ang mga miyembro ng Senado—na inihalal ng buong bansa—sa pag-amyenda o sa pagrebisa ng Constitution. Kaya makakaasa kayong babantayan natin ito nang matindi,” assured Hontiveros.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman posited that those behind the push for charter change are mounting a two-phased campaign. If the push for a joint congressional vote succeeds, he said substantial changes in economic and political provisions would likely be introduced afterward.

He also raised the alarm over the alleged bribery in the campaign, wherein those who sign receive P100.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have pending resolutions seeking an investigation into the alleged scheme.

“We need more investigative work. But if indeed the signatures were paid for, then the people’s initiative petition is not from the people but is the initiative of the source of the money which could be commercial or some other vested selfish interest,” said Sen. Koko Pimentel III.

Karapatan also warned that the bid for charter change right now is detrimental to Filipinos. Beyond the reported irregularities in procedure, the human rights group also stressed that the economic changes often touted by advocates are problematic.

“Economic charter change … is by itself a gross violation of the Filipino people’s primordial rights to benefit from the nation’s patrimony,” said Karapatan. “Allowing ‘economic cha-cha’ will open the floodgates for other self-serving ‘initiatives’ to extend the term limits of politicians and prolong their stay in power.”

(PM)

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