Pulse Asia survey shows 44% of Filipinos do not want charter change.
Forty-four percent of the Filipinos do not want to amend the 1987 Philippine Constitution or the so-called Charter change (Cha-cha).
In the latest Pulse Asia survey issued on Monday, August 1, it showed that among those who opposed charter change, 29 percent are in favor of amending the Constitution sometime in the future while 15 percent said that the Constitution should not be amended at all.
Meanwhile, 37 percent of the respondents support the amendment of the Constitution while 19 percent are undecided on the matter at the moment.
On the other hand, public opinion is split three-ways on the matter of changing the presidential system into a parliamentary system of government. About 33 percent of the respondents are in favor of changing the country’s form of government while 37 percent oppose the proposal.
The survey also showed that 30 percent of the respondents are undecided on the matter of changing the form of government.
The percentages of Filipinos supporting and opposing the shift from the present unitary system to a federal system of government are virtually the same with 39 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
The survey was conducted from July 2 to 8 using face-to-face interviews among 1,200 adult respondents nationwide. The latest Pulse Asia survey has a ± 3 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.
“Pulse Asia Research’s pool of academic fellows takes full responsibility for the design and conduct of the survey, as well as for analyses it makes based on the survey data. In keeping with our academic nature, no religious, political, economic, or partisan group influenced any of these processes,” the survey firm said.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Monday said that as of the moment, amending the ‘Saligang Batas’ through a Constitutional Assembly is mostly preferred.
“It would still be Congress, acting as constituent assembly, that would discuss and approve the proposed charter changes,” he said.
“And after Congress approves the proposed amendments, it’s not final yet. The public must still agree to the proposed changes. That’s why it’s safe because in the end it’s the people who would decide whether they agree or not with the proposed new constitution,” Alvarez said.