President Arroyo welcomed the statement of the moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), which said the debates on Charter change should now be elevated to a higher plane.
"Yes, we need to educate and inform our people. But let us also not insult those who support Charter change among the poorer sections of society by saying that they don’t understand the issues behind Charter change and the need for reforms are all about," TUCP president Democrito Mendoza said in a statement read by the group’s vice president, Alejandro Villaviza, during the Labor Day celebration at Malacañang.
"We all agree that there is a need for amendments," Mendoza said in his statement. "We, the poor also understand the issues if discussed properly with us and if our stomachs are not empty."
The TUCP officials were apparently referring to critics of the proposed amendment of the 1987 Constitution through a people’s initiative, who said that people were being made to sign the petition supporting a shift to a parliamentary government without understanding the issues.
"Because they are poor and less educated, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t understand better," the TUCP said.
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president Donald Dee also asked officials to educate the people more on Charter change given the complexities of the issues involved, particularly the proposed shift in the form of government.
Some business groups have already said they would support Charter change for the sake of reforming the country’s politics and economy.
A coalition called "Sa Tamang Oras at Paraan" or STOP Cha-cha was formed to stop the efforts of the administration and other groups to amend the Constitution.
Former President Corazon Aquino, Senate President Franklin Drilon and the opposition said they would launch various actions to discourage people from supporting Charter change at this time, saying only the Arroyo administration would benefit from such constitutional amendment.
The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) in turn called on the opposition to stop using rehashed issues to carry out their hidden agenda of scuttling the people’s initiative.
In a statement, ULAP challenged the opposition to instead "match their rhetoric with action by backing constitutional reforms to remove the executive-legislative gridlocks, spur growth and create enough jobs."
AdCom chairman Lito Monico Lorenzana said it is high time that people be informed about the pressing issue of constitutional reforms.
"That is the reason why we are here, to inform and educate our countrymen about the proposals of the consultative commission," Lorenzana said. "Our people should have an informed choice about this issue."
Lorenzana also said the people’s initiative signature campaign was not done in haste, as was claimed by the Church.
He said the Consultative Commission (ConCom) on Charter change went to all the provinces to discuss the constitutional amendments they proposed with the people.
"Even before the AdCom was created, the Consultative Commission went to the provinces last year to get the pulse of the people on Charter change," he said. "Most of us here have been advocating Charter change for many years now."
Other groups, such as the TUCP, the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) and the youth sector earlier called for a debate among Charter change proponents and opponents.
ULAP president and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado said "the opposition should elevate the level of debates on Charter change instead of resorting to protest actions that (will) only muddle issues involving efforts to amend the Constitution. We call on them to heed our bishops, who have pointed out the need for more detailed discussions and debates."
On April 7, the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released a pastoral statement saying it does not favor hasty methods of carrying out the proposed amendment of the Constitution.
However, the CBCP said is not against Charter change, but wants a wider public information drive so the people may know more about the proposals.
The 15-man AdCom was created to inform and educate the public about the three major proposals of the ConCom, which include the shift from a presidential to a parliamentary form of government; the shift to a federal structure of the Republic; and the lifting of restrictive economic provisions in the Charter.
Lorenzana also said noted constitutionalist and former Ateneo Law School dean Fr. Joaquin Bernas is right in saying that the country will eventually go federal once the shift to a parliamentary system of government takes place.
"I think their (government’s) plans are to go to parliament first then to federal," Bernas said. "At the moment, there is nothing federal. The issue of federalism is not being discussed very much but, eventually, it will." — With Mike Frialde, Delon Porcalla