Survey says...

Filipinos don’t want Charter change, according to the latest Pulse Asia Survey.

The good news is that the survey results showed that there is high awareness among Filipinos on Charter change but as House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin said, it seems there is little understanding on the Constitution itself on the part of the survey respondents.

The latest Pulse Asia survey showed that 88 percent of Filipinos are against changing the country’s Constitution. This came after the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 which aims to relax stringent economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution, with the aim of attracting more foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the country.

As I said in previous columns, I share the view of some economists and foreign institutions that easing some of our Charter’s economic provisions may be necessary in attracting more FDIs into the Philippines, which in turn would create more jobs.

But I believe that this should be done in parallel with efforts to rid the bureaucracy of red tape and graft and corruption which turn off investors, both foreign and local.

As for the rest of the population, it is indeed important to know what Filipinos really want.

Political question

What we know for sure is that Filipinos don’t want changes in the Charter that would pave the way for our politicians to stay longer in power.

But as Garin said, political questions or non-economic queries were unnecessarily raised in the survey.

“The questions should have been limited to economic Cha-cha only. The conclusion that 75 percent reject Cha-cha is wrong, because they also polled that 75 percent said they were not aware and don’t know Cha-cha. So, they should not have been asked in the first place,” Garin said, as reported by The STAR on April 2.

She noted for instance that questions about federalism, as proposed by the previous administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, were also included.

Perhaps a survey focused only on changes in the economic provisions would be more reflective of what Filipinos really want when it comes to Charter change.

Not surprisingly, lawmakers have questioned the results of the survey, although the reputable pollster stands by its survey, saying that they have been doing such polls for decades now.

Deputy Speaker David Suarez of Quezon raised concerns on the use of what he deemed were “leading questions” which he said may have influenced the outcome.

“The phrasing of the questions by Pulse Asia seemed crafted to steer respondents toward a specific viewpoint on Charter amendments,” Suarez said.

He said there were questions on proposed amendments which aren’t really part of the current proposals, including changing the system to a federal system of government, extending the term for elective officials and changing the system of government, etc.

Clearly, Filipinos don’t want such changes. But how about easing economic amendments?

This is what we need to know and to clear the issue, perhaps, as I said, another survey may be done.

As many foreign institutions have pointed out, easing some of the restrictive economic provisions in our Constitution may put the Philippines back on the radar screen of investors.

This is how our neighbors in the region have done it.

Multinational companies after all have the capacity to invest more and build industries, something we have not done through the decades.

They should also be able to provide Filipino workers better pay so that our kababayans don’t have to leave our home country to toil in distant shores for higher-paying jobs.

Actually, if only we built our local industries early on, we would not even be arguing about easing our economic provisions.

But that is not what happened.

Guarding our Constitution

Moving forward, we must be open to easing our economy provided that the changes would indeed be limited to such provisions. We must be vigilant about this.

As ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro warned, if a constituent assembly were to convene, it would have the authority to propose and approve amendments on various matters, including political and economic aspects.

We must be on guard against such moves or sleight of hand but at the same time, give our country the chance to attract more investments so we would finally experience faster and more sustained economic expansion which, in turn, would lead to more jobs for Filipinos.

A victory for Cesar Chiong and Irene Montalbo

Cesar Chiong and Irene Montalbo can heave a sigh of relief.

The Court of Appeals, in an order dated March 21, reversed the dismissal of Cesar, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), and Irene, assistant general manager.

They were ordered dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman last year after an anonymous complaint was filed against them over the reassignment of 285 MIAA employees.

“Accordingly, the Complaint for Grave Abuse of Authority, Misconduct and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service is DISMISSED for lack of merit,” said the CA in its 13-page decision.

With NAIA privatized, it is unclear how this decision will impact airport operations but at the very least, it is a vindication for Chiong and Irene who tried to fulfill their duties in the service of the country.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen (Iris Gonzales) on Facebook.