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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Pro Cha-cha 'landslide' vote projected in Negros Oriental
By Jimmy P. Abayon
A RANKING official of the Paciwu-Associated Labor Union (ALU) in Visayas projected a "landslide" vote for Charter change in Negros Oriental should a referendum on the proposed Constitutional reforms pushed through.
Paciwu-ALU vice president for the Visayas and Negros Oriental Board Member Melimore Saycon said not less than 400,000 of Negros Oriental's 606,000 total registered voters would rally behind the government-initiated campaign to change the Constitution and to shift from the presidential to the parliamentary form of government.
"This is my forecast, if the referendum pushes through. Not less than 70 percent of the total registered voters in Negros Oriental would vote 'yes'," Saycon said.
His opinion is largely based on the support of majority of the mayors in the province.
"Local government officials here from Governor Arnaiz, board members, until the mayor of the five cities and 20 municipalities in Negros are all supporting Charter change," Saycon said.
The Labor group of Saycon is perceived to be friendly with Malacañang.
Saycon said the country needed a radical economic change and that now is the right time for it.
"In fact we are 15 years late in changing our system. The time is right to shift to the parliamentary system," he added.
Not fully sold out
On the other hand, Dumaguete City Mayor Agustin Perdices is not completely sold out to overhaul the Constitution but admits it needs to be "upgraded."
Perdices said the upgrading was necessary because some provisions of the Constitution were no longer applicable today.
Dumaguete City Councilor Noel de Jesus believed the Philippines, was already 15 years late in changing its system of government.
"Had we done this years ago, the Philippines would not have been behind its Asian counterparts now," de Jesus said.
He admitted that the present might not be the right time to change the Constitution because of the country's current economic state, "But better late than never."
Meantime, A team from the Bishops'-Businessmen's Conference and the Advocacy Commission (AdCom) will hold a multi-sectoral Charter Change Traveling Forum at the Fleur de Lis Hall of St. Paul College-Dumaguete City on May 24.
The forum, a coordinated effort of the Diocese of Dumaguete and the Philippine Information Agency is part of the team's campaign nationwide to consult the people on the proposed Constitutional reforms.
It will also discuss proposals for and against Charter change.
AdCom chairman Jose A. Abueva will present before a cross-section of the community the proposal to change the Constitution while AdCom member Vicente Paterno will present the opposition to Charter change.
Abueva and Paterno are members of the 55-member Constitutional Commission organized by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to study needed amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
(May 20, 2006 issue)
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