ACT solon moves to probe efforts to jumpstart Cha-cha

FILE PHOTO: Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. France Castro. | PHOTO: Official facebook page of ACT Teachers Party-List

MANILA, Philippines — A resolution seeking to investigate the reported signature-buying and the alleged use of public funds to push for constitutional reform or Charter change (Cha-cha) through the “so-called” people’s initiative (PI), has been filed in the House of Representatives.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. France Castro said on Sunday that she electronically filed House Resolution 1541 over the weekend urging the committee on public accounts to probe the purported Cha-cha signature drive in the country.

“Ang dami na naming natatanggap na report tungkol sa panloloko sa pagpapaprima para sa pekeng people’s initiative daw para sa Charter change. Mula Tarlac, QC (Quezon City), Caloocan at Cavite ang ilan sa mga natanggap naming report,” Castro revealed in a statement.

(We received a lot of information on those who are luring and misleading people to sign for a fake people’s initiative for the Cha-cha. We received reports from Tarlac, Quezon City, Caloocan, and Cavite.)

The resolution likewise states that these alleged “signature-buying” were monitored during the distribution of gifts and relief items last holiday seasons in Barangay Silangan in San Mateo, Rizal; Barangay Pinyahan, District 4 in Quezon City; Barangay Kalusugan, Quezon City, Caloocan, Valenzuela, and Tarlac.

READ: Cha-cha foes slam TV ad: ‘Distasteful wordplay’

“May report din na pati mga PWD [persons with disability] ay nililinlang para papirmahin sa Cha-cha,” Castro claimed.

(Some reports also said that even PWDs were getting tricked into signing to support Cha-cha.)

READ: Lagman, Castro blast airing of TV commercial pushing for Cha-cha

Earlier, Castro and Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman condemned the television advertisement calling for Cha-cha, which was aired during the primetime telecasts of major television stations on January 9.

Both lawmakers also questioned the use of the term “Edsa-pwera” in the advertisement — a play of words on the Spanish term “echa fuera,” which means “left out” or “ostracized” in English.

“Hindi konstitusyon ang may kasalanan ng bumubulusok na economic status ng bansa kundi ang neoliberal na polisiya ng kasalukuyan at mga nagdaang administrasyon,” Castro concluded.

(The decline of our economy should not be blamed on the constitution but on the neoliberal policy of the current and past administrations.)