“Cha-cha is a dance to death”

Sa launching dinhi sa Sugbo, sa Cebu Movement against Tyranny and Charter Change, si former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., nagkanayon: “We should be watchful of the tyranny in our government. Should we continue to move, we should collectively move to fight these kinds of evil.

Panahon na karon para pugngan ang tiraniya nga nagpadayon sa atong nasud. Any kind of Charter Change is a lethal decision, a cruel punishment to the God-loving and democracy-thriving Filipinos. The Cha-Cha is a dance to death.”

Ato kining suportahan, maghugpong kita  aron molanog ang atong tingog, ug mapugos sila  pagpaminaw kanato. Mao kini ang tinuod nga ‘People’s Initiative.’ 

Ang kalihokan usa ka alyansa o panaghugpong sa nagkalainlaing sector sa simbahan, academe, legal, ug ubang mga civil society organizations, pagbatok sa “tyranny, foreign domination, ug  social inequality.”

Dugang ni Davide: “It poses a threat to jeopardize our sovereignty, patrimony, and economic and cultural independence. Charter Change also seeks to railroad the ultimate agenda of perpetuation in power.” So, kuyaw, kun ato lang silang pasagdan, ug kun dili kita magpakabana, ug igo lang mangiyugpos, mga fence-sitters, as if natan-aw lang nagtan-aw lang sa kinaham natong mga movies. 

Kun mapadayon ang ilang mga tinguha, nga gidudahan nga may kalabutan sa pag-extend sa ilang mga terms o sa paghupot sa gahum, mo-apektar kini sa panginabuhi kon sa living conditions sa matag Pilipino

Isip Convenor, sa iyang panawagan sa panaghiusa, si retired judge Meinrado Paredes, namulong:  “This Charter Change could have a specific adverse impact on farmers, workers, urban poor, women, indigenous people, youth, and other marginalized groups, and could further worsen poverty and inequality in the country.”

So, luoy kaayo ang mga marginalized sectors nga mapasagdan lang unya sila, kay mao naman unya ang mag-dominar ug maghari-hari ang mga na-belong sa high society nga hut-ong sa katilingban.

Sa iyang bahin, si Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, nagkanayon: “We pursue a just and humane Philippine society. We believe it to be achievable. And we have a testament to this --the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Time and again, some people who hold power in our land would like to change and amend it... Fellow kindred spirits, we consider it our duty to speak truth to power --to raise our voices to these people in power who might be imprisoned in their good conscience. Hence, we seek to educate and not to tolerate, to speak and not to stay silent,”

Matud pa kutob lamang sila sa mga economic provisions, ug dili sila motandog sa politika. Kaha? Atong masabot nga ang 1987 natong Batakang Balaud, maoy ilang gipasanginlan ngano wala modagsang ang direct foregin invesments nga sa nasud. Ngano gud tawon.

Ang ubang mga sakop sa Movement: UCCP West Visayas Jurisdictional Area Bishop Fely Tenchavez, Iglesia Filipina Independiente Cebu Bishop Alger Loyao Sr,, Cebu Archdiocesan on Social Advocates Fr. Ace Vocales, Bayan Muna Central Visayas coordinator John Ruiz III, ACT Region VII union coordinator April Dyan Gumanao, National Union of People’s Lawyers Cebu Secretary-General Mel Domini Ebo, National Union of Students of the Philippines coordinator Cleisteil Cimafranca, Order of Friars Minor Fr. Allan Arcebuche,  Free Legal Assistance Group convenor retired judge Meinrado Paredes, UCCP convenor Rev. Raymond Gelloagan, SVD Southern Philippines convenor Fr. Rogelio Bag-ao, Sanlakas convenor Teody Navea, USC Department of Sociology and Anthropology professor Dr. Leni Ocasiones, BAYAN Central Visayas chairman Jaime Paglinawan, Karapatan Central Visayas spokesman Dennis Abarientos, the UP Academic Employees Union, UP Cebu Chapter President Dr. Regletto Imbong, and PISTON Cebu chairman Greg Perez.