Governors embark on massive info drive on ChaCha

ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL The Sigaw ng Bayan! coalition is further strengthened by the full support and alliance of such noted Philippine executive leaders as LPP and ULAP President, Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado, Nueva Ecija Governor Tomas Joson III, Catanduanes Governor Leandro Verceles Jr. and Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia. The coalition was doubly boosted when the business community manifested their support through Mr. Francis Chua, president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce Inc. (FFCCI); Mr. Donald Dy, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce Inc. (PCCI). The bigwigs of the political and business sectors are joined in this solidarity conference photo by Sigaw ng Bayan! Spokesperson Atty. Raul Lambino (rightmost), all of them joining hands to fully support the People’s Initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution by establishing a unicameral-Parliamentary system of government in the Philippines.

A massive information campaign to reach out to the people and educate them on the various issues related to the on-going people’s initiative on charter change has started in all provinces nationwide.

Bohol Gov. Erico B. Aumentado, head of both the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, said the information drive is aimed at educating the public on constitutional reforms that would lead to political stability and pave the way for a liberalized economy conducive to growth and get the people’s feedback on what powers they would want President Arroyo and the Prime Minister to have in the interim Parliament.

“We (the governors) will vigorously undertake this role of directly consulting with the people on this very important issue because we believe that we are in the best position to find out how they want genuine, sweeping reforms via the shift to a parliamentary system of government to be carried out and adopted,” Aumentado said.

“This is participatory democracy in actual practice,” said Aumentado. “We will take advantage of our multi-level information drive from the provincial down to the barangay level to consult with our constituencies and find out what type of parliamentary system they want.”

The extensive info campaign that kicked off at the provincial level last May 5 and expected to last until May 18 also included a series of orientation and training workshop seminars spearheaded by ULAP in partnership with the Advocacy Commission on Charter Change.

The governors hosted the staging of such seminars within their respective provinces .
Participants in the provincial level orientation and training seminars included all provincial elected officials and all mayors and vice mayors, Liga ng Barangay Federation President of component cities and municipalities, one member of the Sanggunian Bayan per component city and municipality, all DILG provincial directors, and people’s organizations and non-government organizations.

To ensure intensive discussions on Charter change and broaden public support for the People’s Initiative, ULAP has encouraged the active participation in these consultative meetings of various sectors, most especially religious groups, pastoral councils, and civic clubs.

Reports reaching the LPP office said that the opening salvo of the info campaign held in Bohol, Occidental Mindoro, Laguna, Masbate, Catanduanes and the Bicol provinces of Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon, have yielded some 6,400 new constitutional warriors who have committed to help explain the urgency of a parliamentary shift, down to the municipal and barangay levels.

Other reports said provincial officials led by Masbate Governor Antonio Kho have thrown their support for the People’s Initiative to amend the Constitution during a weekend summit held at the provincial capitol in Masbate.

In Virac’s Capitol Dome, Catanduanes Gov. Leandro Verceles Jr. also hosted a weekend summit to train some 50 spokespersons for Charter change who will be deployed to the municipalities and barangays to impress upon the people the urgency of constitutional reforms leading to the parliamentary shift.

Last May 9, the information and training programs stepped up with simultaneous campaigns in various provinces of the Visayas particularly in Iloilo, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Siquijor and Southern Leyte.

On May 10, trainors were dispatched to the Southern Luzon provinces of Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon; and the CAR provinces of Benguet and Mountain Province. The following day, separate ULAP teams fanned out to La Union, the two Ilocos provinces, Rizal and the CAR provinces of Ifugao, Kalinga, and Apayao.

The final leg of the campaign covered Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley and the provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, Aurora, Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan, Quirino and Isabela.

ULAP officials also went to the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Siquijor and Southern Leyte to explain to Visayans the urgency of constitutional reforms and directly find out from them what variation of the unicameral parliamentary system they would want to replace the present US-style presidential system, which, according to political scientists, has for decades bred executive-legislative gridlock and stunted growth and development.

ULAP’s advocacy committee on Charter change noted that this focus on the power-sharing arrangement between the president and prime minister only proves that constitutional reforms will trim the powers of the President in the interim phase leading to the regular parliament come 2010, contrary to claims of critics that the proposed parliamentary shift meant to prolong Mrs. Arroyo’s stay and even expand her executive powers.

Aumentado said a separate batch of spokespersons to be deployed in Mindanao will undergo a trainors’ training program similar to the one held in Quezon City earlier for the first batch of resource persons under the tutelage of former ConCom Commissioners Romela Bengzon, Alex Magno and Raul Lambino.

Local officials also welcomed the move by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to let the courts decide on the legitimacy of the People’s Initiative as they bared plans to seek a dialogue with the bishops and invite them to take part in the ULAP-led consultations on the proposed parliamentary shift now underway across the country.

Nueva Ecija Gov. Tomas Joson III, LPP executive vice president, has also reportedly lauded the CBCP’s decision not to pass judgment on the legality of the People’s Initiative.

“Charter change nonbelievers would do well to heed the position of the CBCP that the courts—and not the so-called parliament of the streets—serve as the proper forum for a legitimate discourse on the legality of the People’s Initiative,” Joson said in response to the CBCP position, aired recently by Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, that critics should “let the court decide on that.”

“This pensive call by our revered Catholic bishops presents a sober perspective to the great debate on Charter change in the face of the incessant maneuvers by the opposition to muddle the issue of constitutional reforms with calumnies and deceitful innuendos,” Joson said.

He expressed the hope too that CBCP members would take an active part in the ULAP-led consultative meetings so “they could see for themselves how popular democracy was at work in these consultations and share their wisdom on this urgent concern with our masa in a run-up to the plebiscite on the proposed parliamentary shift.”

“The circumstances in 1997, when the Supreme Court first ruled on the issue, and the events happening now are completely different cases, considering the overpowering clamor by our people for Charter change, as manifested in the 8.5 million signatures in support of the People’s Initiative,” he said. “Now is really the time for the High Court to revisit the case of Santiago vs. Comelec,” he added in voicing optimism that the Tribunal could still reverse its 1997 ruling.

Aumentado said the “provincial summits” in Bohol and Occidental Mindoro will be replicated at the municipal and barangay levels all over the country “to bring to every community the issue of constitutional reforms that will pave the way for the shift to a parliamentary system of government.”

In Bohol’s capital city of Tagbilaran, Aumentado said some 5,000 participants who jampacked the Tagbilaran Cultural Center reached a consensus to back constitutional reforms that would lead to a parliamentary government.

In Occidental Mindoro’s capital of Mamburao, Gov. Josephine Sato said some 250 local executives, representatives of non-government organizations and leaders of the Mangyan tribal community have backed the grassroots-based clamor for constitutional reforms during a forum at the Provincial Training Center. (ANGEL TUGADO)

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