Most Filipinos not in favor of amending the Constitution – Pulse Asia

MANILA, Philippines – Support for amending the 1987 Constitution has dropped significantly over the past year, according to a Pulse Asia Research, Incorporated survey released on Wednesday, March 27.

From 41% of Filipino adults supporting charter change efforts in March 2023, there are now only 8% in favor of the move.

The pollster, which interviewed 1,200 respondents from March 6 to 10, said 88% of Filipinos are not in favor of amending the Constitution, a 43-percentage point increase from the 45% who opposed the move last year.

A big majority or 74% of Filipinos said it “should not be amended now or any other time,” a significant increase from 31% in March 2023.

Of the 88% opposed to amending the Constitution, 6% are open to charter change under the Marcos administration, while 8% said they would prefer changes to be made under the next administration.

“Sa pamamagitan ng survey na ito ay ipinapakita na halos 90% ng mga Filipino ay ayaw at laban sa charter change,” ACT Teachers Representative France Castro said in a statement. (This survey shows that almost 90% of Filipinos are against charter change.)

“Kaya dapat itigil na ang charter change at ituon ng gobyerno ang oras at resources nito sa pressing problems ng mga Filipino.” (That’s why we need to stop charter change now at have the government dedicate its time and resources to the Filipino people’s pressing problems instead.)

The survey results were released just a week after Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 (RBH7) was passed by the House of Representatives after weeks of holding marathon hearings.

People’s Initiative

The survey results showed that 67% of the respondents are aware of the current efforts to amend the charter through the people’s initiative, but 93% were not among those who received the public petition.

Only 7% were reached by the public initiative, and “most did not affix their signature to the document.”

Among the 24% who signed the people’s initiative, respondents were almost split when asked if they received an incentive for signing the petition.

Pulse Asia said 45% said they received an incentive for signing the petition, mostly from Class E. One of the allegations surrounding the public initiative is that people were tricked into signing the petition, which was guised as financial assistance from government agencies.

Opposition to proposals

Most of the respondents said they were not in favor of the proposed reforms.

There were also changes in support for some of the proposed charter amendments compared to the previous year For example, there are now less Filipinos supporting the move to allow foreign individuals and firms to own stakes in mass media and advertising and on calls for term extension for both national and local officials.

Support for changing the country’s government system also saw a 20-percentage point drop in support. In March 2023, 38% of Filipinos said they favored the move but the numbers dropped to 18% in 2024.

RBH7, the proposal that breezed through the House last week, inserts the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in provisions limiting foreign ownership in the public utilities, education, and advertising sectors.

It is a resolution copied from the proposals of the Senate, which House lawmakers adopted to expedite the charter change process at the 19th Congress.

The ball is now at the Senate, which has had four public hearings on the charter amendments so far. – Rappler.com