Filipinos divided on Cha-cha – Pulse Asia

MANILA, Philippines — While Filipinos remain divided over proposals to amend the 1987 Constitution, support for the initiative has slightly increased in recent months, a recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia showed.

Results of the March 15 to 19 survey released on Tuesday showed that 41 percent of the respondents agreed on amending the Constitution now, up from 31 percent in a similar survey conducted in September 2022.

Those who disagreed fell from 56 percent to 45 percent, composed of 31 percent saying it should not be amended now or any other time and 14 percent saying it should be amended sometime in the future.

The remaining 14 percent said they do not know if they support or oppose proposals to amend the Constitution, up from 13 percent in the September survey.

Across regions, support for Charter change now was highest among respondents from the Visayas (55 percent agree, 40 percent disagree), followed by those in Balance Luzon (41 percent agree, 39 percent disagree), Mindanao (37 percent agree, 51 percent disagree) and Metro Manila (27 percent agree, 59 percent disagree).

It was highest among those belonging to class ABC (47 percent agree, 37 percent disagree), followed by those in classes D (41 percent agree, 44 percent disagree) and E (38 percent agree, 52 percent disagree).

The survey also found that most Filipinos are not in favor of many of the prior and current proposed amendments to the Constitution.

Opposition was highest to the proposal to allow foreign individuals and companies to exploit natural resources (15 percent in favor, 76 percent not in favor), followed by foreign ownership of residential and industrial lands (16 percent in favor, 72 percent not in favor), removal of limits on stocks that may be owned by foreigners (22 percent in favor, 72 percent not in favor) and allowing foreign individuals and companies to own equity in mass media and advertising (25 percent in favor, 57 percent not in favor).

Proposed constitutional amendments include lifting the prohibition on foreign ownership of communications companies (29 percent in favor, 53 percent not in favor) and utilities (30 percent in favor, 55 percent not in favor), term extension for national and local officials (31 percent in favor, 56 percent not in favor), shifting to federal form of government (38 percent in favor, 42 percent not in favor) and allowing foreigners to practice their profession in the country (40 percent in favor, 45 percent not in favor).

Based on the survey, only 47 percent of the respondents said they were aware of recent proposals to amend the Constitution, while 53 percent said they have not heard, read or watched anything about it.

Only 21 percent said that they either had a great deal or sufficient knowledge about the 1987 Constitution, while 79 said they have little to no knowledge at all.

The survey respondents were also asked if they agree or disagree with the proposal to convene a constitutional convention to amend the Charter.

Thirty-four percent said that they agree, while 30 percent said they disagree. Some 28 percent of the respondents said they cannot say if they agree or disagree, while eight percent said they do not have enough knowledge to give an opinion on the matter.

The survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of +/-2.8 percent.