New, broader group vows to defeat ‘most well-funded Cha-cha’ initiative

A NEWLY formed anti-Charter change coalition has vowed to defeat any attempt to revise the 37-year-old Philippine Constitution by fighting the move on all levels, one of its convenors said over the weekend.

Former lawmaker Neri J. Colmenares described the No to ChaCha Network as the “broadest” coalition of groups opposed to Charter change (“Cha-cha”) and that it is set to conduct public information and education drives, hold mass actions, and file “properly timed” legal actions.

“Cha-cha is no different than other similar self-serving ‘Chacha’ attempts before, except that this is the most well-funded and well-organized and therefore most dangerous,” he said in a Viber message.

“It will take out valuable government time, resources and effort from the pressing problems of the people. It will increase the divide between the Senate and the House,” he added, noting that the new group has former government officials as members.

Earlier this month, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. reiterated his support for moves in the Congress to amend the country’s economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, which was crafted following a February 1986 uprising that toppled his late father’s dictatorial regime.

The push for “Cha-cha” has been hounded by controversies after a corporation founded in the 1990s launched a people’s initiative, which would allow both houses of Congress to act as a Constituent Assembly and vote jointly.

Following backlashes, the Commission on Elections suspended late last month all proceedings related to the initiative, which is still being investigated by the Senate.

The initiative had been supported by lawmakers, with some even linking it to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, a cousin of the President.

“Cha-cha” is typically discussed in Congress every year, and it does not help that some lawmakers eye amendments to the Constitution’s political provisions.

“Cha-cha has never been about what’s good for the people but about term extensions and more power to control,” Mr. Colmenares said. “It remains the same today.”

The Not to Cha-cha Network, which was launched on Feb. 15, will hold a rally at the EDSA Shrine to mark the 38th anniversary of the street uprising that sent the former strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos and his family into exile in a US colony. —