INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Both Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro have condemned the airing of a television advertisement calling for Charter change, with Castro saying that the Makabayan bloc is considering asking to investigate the commercial.
Lagman and Castro, in separate statements on Wednesday, also questioned the use of the term “Edsa-pwera” in the advertisement — a play of words on the Filipino slang “echapwera,” which means “left out” or “ostracized” in English, and inserting the word Edsa.
Edsa refers to the avenue that stretches across Metro Manila, which was also the site of the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and ushered in the creation of the 1987 Constitution, which is used until today. An advertisement calling to amend the Constitution was aired during the primetime telecasts of major television stations on Tuesday.
“The ‘EDSA-power’ Charter change ad campaign is part of the Marcos family’s continuing demonization of the Edsa People’s Power Revolution, which ousted the Marcos dictatorship and helped install the ‘Cory Constitution’ or the present 1987 Philippine Constitution,” Lagman said, referring to former president Cory Aquino who succeeded Marcos Sr.
“The ad is crudely crafted, and there is nothing substantial conveyed in the message,” Lagman added.
Castro meanwhile noted that the “Edsa-pwera” catchphrase is misleading because it implies that ordinary Filipinos were disadvantaged in the 1987 Constitution, when the call for Charter change stems from a yearning to welcome foreign investments.
“Using Edsa-pwera as a catchphrase, the paid ad also misleads viewers by saying that it was farmers, students, and local businessmen were the ones disadvantaged by the 1987 Constitution, but what the voiceover and the placards are saying is that more foreigners should wholly own land, businesses and even schools in our country,” she said.
The ACT party-list lawmaker said that Makabayan is mulling the filing of a House Resolution to ask for a probe on the advertisement — to identify whether public funds were used.
“We are now mulling to file a House Resolution to probe the funding used for the pro-Charter change ad now running on television,” Castro said.
“Were the funds used for this ad from public coffers or money from foreign interests trying to change our Constitution so that they can own most of our country?” she added.
According to Castro, whoever is behind the advertisement cannot blame people for questioning if public funds were used, especially since rumors have been spreading around the House leadership’s push for a people’s initiative.
A People’s Initiative is one of the three methods to amend the 1987 Constitution, the other two being constitutional convention and constituent assembly.
“We cannot blame our fellow Filipinos if they think about the possibility that public funds are being used especially since there is a renewed push to amend the Constitution from the Marcos administration, especially with signature campaigns being done now, but people are being misled,” Castro said in Filipino.
“The Constitution is not to blame for the spiraling economic status of the country, but the neoliberal policies of the current and past administrations,” she claimed.
Last December, the House leadership admitted that they are looking at old proposals pushing for Charter change as these would allow more foreign investments to enter the Philippines.
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However, questions have been asked about the sincerity of these moves, with Lagman claiming on Tuesday that public funds are being used to push for charter change — saying that the campaign “has a surfeit of funds.”
READ: Lagman claims public funds being used for Cha-cha drive
Lagman was referring to a supposed P14 billion item in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) or the annual budget, which was supposedly inserted during the bicameral conference committee hearing to fund Cha-cha. But in a separate statement, Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co maintained that Lagman was referring to a budget belonging to the Commission on Elections.