Many Davao Folk Clueless About Cha-Cha
Some mistook it for the dance, many hadn?t heard about it, others were convinced it won?t change things, while several felt some interests are manipulating the public into accepting it.
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By Cheryll D. Fiel
and Germelina A. Lacorte
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DAVAO CITY (davaotoday.com) ? The surveys were emphatic: most Filipinos are not in favor of Charter change. Although the results vary depending on who does the survey, the sentiment nonetheless was clear.
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A Pulse Asia survey in March said that 48 percent of voters approved of Charter Change while 43 percent didn?t. A more recent survey this month by the same pollster indicated that 54 percent of Filipinos didn?t want a shift to a parliamentary system, which is the key amendment being pushed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Her critics have warned that she?s using Charter change to perpetuate herself in power by averting another round of impeachment proceedings this year.
Results of a nationwide poll released last week by Ibon Foundation indicated that 76 percent of the respondents who know about Charter change did not approve of it. But given the unpopularity of the Arroyo administration, which is hounded by charges of election fraud and corruption, that is hardly surprising.