Pedestrians, many of them wearing face masks, cross Kamuning Road in Quezon City in this photo taken in September 2022. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — While awareness over Charter change proposals has gone up due to recent discussions at Congress, a huge majority of Filipinos still do not believe that now is the right time to amend the Constitution, according to a Pulse Asia survey.
In a report on Wednesday, Pulse Asia said results of a survey conducted from March 6 to 10 showed that 72 percent of the respondents have been aware of Charter change proposals.
Only 28 percent said they only heard about it during the survey proper.
The number of respondents aware of Charter change proposals is significantly higher than what was registered a year ago or in March 2023.
However, only eight percent of the respondents said that they believe the Constitution should be amended now, while a staggering 88 percent said it should not be touched, and four percent were undecided.
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The 88 percent of respondents who disagree with constitutional amendments have been classified by Pulse Asia into the following:
Fourteen percent who said that the Constitution should not be amended now, but it may be amended sometime in the future.
Six percent are saying that it can be done under the current administration and eight percent are saying this must be done under the next administration.
Seventy-four percent said the Constitution should not be amended now nor any other time.
“Around three-fourths of the adult population (74%) do not see the need for charter change, regardless of timing. This opinion is echoed by small to big majorities in the various areas and classes (69% to 82% and 58% to 80%),” Pulse Asia said.
“The rest of Filipino adults think the 1987 Philippine Constitution should be amended now (8%); do not see the need for charter change now but are open to it under the next administration (8%); oppose constitutional amendments now but support it at some other time under the incumbent administration (6%); or are undecided on the matter (4%),” it added.
Opposition to Charter change is highest in Mindanao with 91 percent of respondents opposing it, followed by Balance Luzon (89 percent), Visayas (85 percent), and Metro Manila (81 percent).
Support for amendments, meanwhile, is highest in Metro Manila (14 percent), followed by Visayas (15 percent), Mindanao (eight percent), and Balance Luzon (four percent).
Pulse Asia said the opposition to Charter change has gone up since its March 2023 survey.
“Levels of opposition to charter change now or at any other time go up between March 2023 and March 2024. This observation holds at the national level (+43 percentage points) and in each area and class (+31 to +58 and +31 to +50 percentage points),” Pulse Asia said.
“In contrast, support for proposals to amend the 1987 Philippine Constitution now eases in the Philippines (-33 percentage points) and across geographic and socio-economic subgroupings (-13 to -40 and -32 to -40 percentage points),” it added.
Pulse Asia interviewed 1,200 Filipino adults, subdivided into 300 per locality.
The polling firm said it maintains a ± 2.8 percent margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level and a ± 5.7 percent margin of error for each of the areas.
The survey period coincides with the hearings done by the House Committee of the Whole on RBH No. 7, the latest Charter change proposal of the House which focuses on economic provisions only.
The Committee of the Whole approved RBH No. 7 last March 6 — the start of Pulse Asia’s polling period.