Constitutional change not Marcos priority, solon reminded
“LISTEN to the President.”
This is the call of Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas to the members of Congress who are still pushing for the Charter Change or Cha-Cha despite the statement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that it is not a priority.
Brosas said the statement of Marcos should be taken with a grain of salt.
To date, the committee on constitutional amendments is still pushing for the Cha-cha with the regional consultations apparently in a bid to finish consultations before House goes into a break this March.
“His statement is merely a way to wash his hands from the anti-poor and anti-people Constitutional amendments that are being fast-tracked in the Lower House,” Brosas said.
For Brosas and the rest of Makabayan bloc, Cha-Cha is not the answer to the economic crisis that the country is facing.
“The government is just wasting its time and very limited resources in conducting hearings and consultations on Charter Change. If President Marcos Jr. is really serious in his statement that Cha-Cha is not his priority, then he must prioritize instead the passage of policies that will increase wages and lower the prices of goods and services,” Brosas also said.
Makabayan bloc’s pro-people bills have been languishing in Congress, including House Bill 4898 or the National Minimum Wage bill, House Bill 400 scrapping the TRAIN Law excise tax and 12 percent VAT on oil, and House Bill 5504 exempting sugar, cooking oil and other basic commodities from 12 percent VAT.
We call on President Marcos Jr. to prioritize these bills and help ease the impacts of the economic crisis instead of rushing the Chacha express, Brosas said.
