"Set aside Charter change and submit your administration to the true will of the people through snap election," it said.

UNO Chairman Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, in a meeting at the Metropolitan Club in Rockwell, Makati City, said the call was anchored on its appeal to scrap Cha-cha, which, according to them, "is not the answer to our nation’s present problems."

"We now urge you all to call for a snap election that would serve to either confirm the mandate that you claim to have or finally prove that a great majority do not believe you should be President," UNO said in a two-page letter to President Arroyo.

The group said the snap election would be the best conduit for the public and various organizations "to exercise their democratic and constitutional right to choose their leader" and resolve the political controversies buffeting the administration.

"We therefore issue a last appeal for you to heed the cries of our people who have suffered so much under your watch. The quantity, stature, and variety of political persuasions of people against the people’s initiatives prove beyond doubt that our position is beyond partisan politics," it said.

Binay suggested that before conducting a snap election, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. should vacate his post, since the alleged massive electoral fraud happened during his watch.

Meanwhile, Filipinos are divided on their perception on the proposed amendment to the 1987 Constitution setting a five-year tenure in office for elective national and local officials, as shown by the independent research organization Pulse Asia’s March 2006 Ulat ng Bayan Survey.

The survery conducted from Feb. 18-March 4 on 1,200 respondents showed that 52 percent favored the proposal and 48 percent rejected it.

In addition, two out of three Filipinos (62 percent) would reject any Constitutional amendment to allow elected officials to run as many times as they wish.

Fifty-nine percent to 65 percent of those surveyed across the country and in the socio-economic classes hold this view.

Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed have a contrary position. They would favor scrapping term limits and allow elected public officials to run repeatedly, without any constraint.

Across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes, this more liberal attitude is reflected by 35 percent to 41 percent of those surveyed.

However, one in two Filipinos (52 percent) backs the resignation of Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners as a result of the unresolved controversies surrounding the conduct of the last national election. (with reports from Ellalyn de Vera)