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Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Cano says people's initiative is free, fair doing
By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
THE people's initiative in Negros Occidental is not "fake". It is a free and fair doing where even the ordinary people have participated, said Transportation and Communication Assistant Secretary Ricardo "Cano" Tan.
Cano made the statement in reaction to the position taken by the Catholic Church in the province.
Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra said on Palm Sunday that some of those who signed the campaign sheets for Charter Change only affixed their signatures because they were paid to do so.
"I respect the opinion of Bishop Navarra. And I think it's very, very difficult and unfair to say that the people's initiative in Negros Occidental is fake," Tan said.
Tan, a known ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Bacolod, admitted though that there might be some problems in the signatures but this could not become a basis for calling the activity a fake.
Raul Lambino, Sigaw ng Bayan spokesman, claimed that the people's initiative is the "most democratic move as it allows the true voice of the people to be heard on the issue of Cha-cha."
He said the opposition and the church should accept the fact that the initiative is the new "wave of the future."
Lambino added that a people's overwhelming support for or the lack of it would reflect how they want to shape their future.
The opponents of Cha-cha including the country's senators, he also said, should now realize that a true People Power has taken a new face and shape far different from the one in 1986.
Bishop Navarra had described the campaign to change the Constitution as "an unjust move of the government on the many who were made to sign something that they didn't even understand."
Representative Jose Carlos "Kako" Lacson of the 3rd district of Negros Occidental said people had spoken and signed for Cha-cha.
"Therefore, the people should be respected because their voice is also the voice of God," he said earlier.
Aside from Lacson, latest assessment reveals that almost all the officials in the province, including those from the opposition are in favor of Cha-cha.
(April 11, 2006 issue)
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