No movement to amend Constitution…for now

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang made it clear on Wednesday that it was not pushing for Charter change as of the moment.

It added, however, that President Benigno Aquino III was indeed open to such possibility, but after he learns what the people really want.

“There are no movements from the Palace to amend the Charter,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told media.

“There’s no orchestrated movement. People are saying there is. There is none.”

He added that when it comes to the issue of term extension, “the President has not made his mind on that.”

He pointed out that Congressman Edgar Erice was pushing for Aquino’s term extension through charter change because of his personal beliefs. He said there was no instruction from the Palace for him to pursue such a measure.

Lacierda also clarified that Aquino, during his interview with TV5, said he was mulling Charter change only for one issue, which is judicial restraint.

“Everybody has gone ahead of themselves and pre-judged the President saying, ‘You’re doing Charter change, you’re violating the Aquino legacy.’ That’s not where we are,” the spokesperson said.

Lacierda pointed out that Aquino was only being honest, unlike his predecessors who said they did not want Charter change but secretly pushed for such initiatives.

“This is the first President who has been honest about his views on the Constitution,” he said.

Asked where they are getting feedback from, Lacierda said some people have already approached them and openly voiced their opinion. He said they are also looking at social media and surveys of media such as that of INQUIRER.net.

“So these are part and parcel of consultations with the people. Egay Erice, for instance, I understand is also going to consult his constituents,” he said.

“So there is no final and fixed mechanism yet on consulting the people, but people have been approaching, people have been telling him. In the same manner that media has been telling him—at least some columnists have been saying—they are against charter change.”

On the other hand, Lacierda said there is no deadline yet on until when will they gather and study public opinion on charter change.

Aquino last week said he was open to Charter change to address the imbalance among the three branches of governance, specifically judicial overreach.

His statement came after he assailed the Supreme Court ruling declaring the Disbursement Acceleration Program partly unconstitutional.

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