Most Pinoys still oppose Charter change, says survey

Most lawmakers may be looking forward to amending the Constitution next year to allow a shift to a parliamentary style of government, but a majority of Filipinos do not.

According to an opinion survey conducted by IBON Foundation Inc., 44.5 percent of Filipinos are not in favor of amending the country’s Charter.

This is higher than the 38.1 percent in IBON’s previous survey, conducted in April.

Most of the respondents want President Arroyo to focus her attention on improving living conditions as well as curb corruption during her first 100 days.

Over 1,600 were surveyed in the latest poll, conducted from June 30 to July 9. It has a two-percentage point margin of error.

Even the number of those supportive of constitutional amendments fell from 29 percent in April to 21.83 percent.

However, a significant number of Filipinos are still either undecided or unaware of the issue, increasing to 33.6 percent from the previous 32.9 percent, IBON said.

Meanwhile, a huge 51.7 percent of respondents disagree with the proposal to change the country’s form of government from the current US-style presidential system to parliamentary. This is 8.9 percentage points higher than April’s 42.8 percent.

The number of those in favor fell from 27.6 percent to 20.9 percent.

IBON research director Antonio Tujan Jr. partly attributed Filipinos’ continued opposition to Charter change to the government’s motives to consolidate greater political power.

"The shift to parliamentary government is a scheme designed to take the path of constitutional authoritarianism," Tujan said. "The Philippine political system, especially the existing political parties, is still immature. Thus, under a parliamentary system, the coalitional party can degenerate into an authoritarian majority."

In the survey, 66.4 percent want Mrs. Arroyo to prioritize improving wages. About roughly the same number said the P20-additional allowance recently granted by the government was not enough.

After wages, 63.8 percent want more affordable prices for fuel, electricity and water, while 60.6 percent want urgent action on graft and corruption.

IBON said that the respondents want immediate action on corruption than implementing reforms in government.

"The new government should heed these demands immediately. President Arroyo’s commitment to implement genuine reforms must be felt this early. Otherwise, the stability that she hopes to achieve will remain elusive," Tujan said.

The latest IBON survey was conducted to find out the people’s perception of the economy, their livelihood and income, government performance, and other pressing issues.

In her State of the Nation Address last Monday, Mrs. Arroyo asked Congress to consider amending the Constitution next year to allow a parliamentary style of government as part of her agenda to ease the country’s wrenching poverty.

Mrs. Arroyo received her loudest applause from legislators when she called for revising the country’s Charter to allow for a parliamentary form of government.

By shifting to a parliamentary government, Mrs. Arroyo hopes to speed up the legislative process and pass crucial laws, including those designed to address the government’s chronic budget deficit.