TAGUM CITY –– Former House Speaker and incumbent Davao del Norte First District Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez says the move to change the Constitution will surely divide House of Congress and time is running out for it.
In a press conference on Sunday, March 14, Alvarez said while some of his colleagues are pushing for Charter Change “They need to catch up because by October, things will change, after the filing of certificates of candidacy, so they must double time now if they really want to push for it”.
The House, according to Alvarez is busy responding to issue relative to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COvid-19) pandemic and their hands are full. He emphasized adding that the issue on ChaCha will further divide not just the Congress but also the people.
“Unya, wala man nay mahimo nga tarong (Then, that will not go well). Not this time,” he said.
The former speaker said there is no enough time for a constitutional change since the filing of certificate of candidacy for the 2022 election will start this October.
“There are requirements under the constitution that you have to comply – information and education, ” he said.
“Instead of focusing on ChaCha, government should concentrate on educating people about the importance of anti Covid-19 vaccine because people remain hesitant for a vaccine jab,” he noted.
“Unsaon man na pagpasabot sa mga tao nga filing na sa October, busy na tanan para magkampanya (How will make people understand? by October it will be the filing of candidacy and all of these officials will be busy for the campaign),” he said.
He said if the leadership of Congress is really serious for a charter change, they must have pushed it during the mid-term of President Rodrigo Duterte because there is still a transition period before the country will start to a Federal Government.
Alvarez added that instead of pushing for charter change, “why not all Congressmen will return to its respective districts and help their local government units (LGU) to educate the people to be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine”.
He said there are numerous people who are hesitant to be vaccinated due to the misinformation circulated not just in social media but also in other platforms.
“Kana gyuy dakong problema karon, unsaon pagpasabot sa mga tao nga di sila mahadlok magpabakuna (This is the real big problem right now, how to make people understand that they should not fear to be vaccinated),” he said.-Armand B, Fenequito Jr.
