"Cha-cha is being used by the politicians for their own selfish purposes. That is not right," Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said.

"Even the so-called people’s initiative is being used by the politicians to push their plan to change the Constitution. The people’s initiative should be for the good of all. That is also what the bishops said about Cha-cha," he said.

The prelate was referring to the CBCP’s pastoral letter last January entitled "Renewing our public life through moral values."

In the letter, the bishops agreed that while certain aspects of the Constitution need amendments and revisions, they do not, however, support hasty efforts to change the fundamental law of the land without the widespread discussion and participation that such changes require.

"We continue to believe, as we did in our Statement on Charter Change in 2003, that changing the Constitution involving major shifts in the form of government, requires widespread participation, total transparency, and relative serenity that allows for national discussion and debate."

" This is best done through a Constitutional Convention. The reasons for constitutional change must be based on the common good rather than on selfserving interests or the interests of political dynasties," CBCP said.

But what seems to be happening now, he said, is that Cha-cha is being used by some people for their own purposes rather than having the Filipino people’s welfare in mind.

"A people’s initiative should be an initiative for the people, not for the politicians," he said. "The question now is which people (are behind these people’s initiative)? Maybe these are just one and the same people," the bishop said.

Arguelles is the former of the Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant people of the CBCP.