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Saturday, April 08, 2006
Signature drive for Charter change alarms bishops
MANILA -- Catholic bishops said Friday they believe that the people's initiative campaign to introduce amendments to the Charter is being undertaken not to address the needs of the public but to protect the interests of a few people.
Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, said the bishops are alarmed at the petition campaign endorsed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arryo for a people's initiative to change the Constitution.
"We view with alarm...the present signature campaign endorsed by the government," the group said in a pastoral statement. "Signatures are apparently collected without adequate information, discussion, and education."
It said changes being proposed "are dangerously unclear and open to manipulation by groups with self-serving interests."
Arroyo, whom critics have been urging to resign due to allegations of electoral fraud and curtailment of civil liberties, endorsed last week the petition campaign.
The bishops said constitutional change "can only be morally justifiable" if revisions will lead to authentic reforms that assure principled politics, accountability, electoral reforms and efficient services, particularly to the poor. No such provisions are clearly specified in the signature drive, they added.
The statement urged predominantly Roman Catholic Filipinos to pray and discern appropriate action on the issue.
In the pastoral statement, Lagdameo stressed that the nature and the way the so called people's initiative campaign was being handled put more questions in their minds and more clearly showed that efforts were to protect those in power.
"This lack of clarity on how the changes will truly benefit our nation raises disturbing questions about who will truly benefit from these changes. It seems that the changes as they are being proposed now will benefit mainly those who already hold positions of power and privilege in the current political system," he said.
Caloocan City Bishop Deogracias Iniguez said members of the Senate have sought the support of the bishops' group in opposing changes to the Charter.
The meeting between Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas and Iniguez and Bishop Julio Labayen of the Infanta Prelature took place at the Le Souffle Restaurant in Makati City on Thursday.
During the meeting, Iniguez said Roxas asked for the CBCP's support in opposing the proposed Charter change being pushed through a people's initiative.
Lagdameo said the manner by which the signatures are collected, which involves proponents going door to door, is not conducive to the kind of informed participation that these fundamental changes demand.
The campaign, he added, lacks adequate information dissemination and discussion that indicate the people are properly informed of its real purpose.
He said the people behind the move to change the Constitution have failed to explain fully how this would be beneficial to the public.
"No such provisions have been clearly specified in the present signature campaign. What form of parliamentary system, how such a parliamentary system will truly serve the common good and the interests of the nation, especially the poor, have not been articulated. Instead, people are given general and sweeping promises of political stability and reform that will allegedly automatically come with a new political system," the prelate said.
Arroyo has been advocating a shift from a presidential to a parliamentary form of government, which she said would speed passage of laws needed for the country's economic growth.
Opposition politicians are fighting the signature drive, with some branding it a ploy by Arroyo to stay in power. Under the present constitution, the signatures of three percent of total voters in each electoral district would be needed for a "people's initiative" to amend the Constitution. (MSN/AP/Sunnex)
(April 8, 2006 issue)
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