Some 300 Davao officials and another 700 business and other sectoral leaders from different parts of the region have expressed their full support for the people’s initiative to amend the Constitution in back-to-back forums held by the Charter Change Advocacy Commission (AdCom) at the Grand Men Seng Hotel here.

The Mindanaoans took part in Wednesday’s opening salvo of the three-day advocacy campaign in the South, which AdCom chairman Lito Monico Lorenzana had organized to boost public awareness—and acceptance—of Charter change in Mindanao.

This developed as Davao del Norte provincial board member and Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines (PBLMP) national chairman Allan Zulueta said he has encouraged League members to participate in the discussions on Charter change at the barangay level.

The group joined the growing number of sectoral and people’s organizations staging a nationwide information campaign on Constitutional reforms.

Earlier, the Liga ng mga Barangay had began an information drive on Charter change in some of the country’s 42,000 barangays, while the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) had started its own campaign among its two million members spread out across 65 denominations and 20,000 churches nationwide.

The PBMLP kicked off its information campaign in Mindanao last Wednesday with Zulueta speaking before 1,300 barangay officials of Compostela Valley during the Liga ng mga Barangay Congress to explain to them the benefits of a shift to a parliamentary form of government and how the people themselves could effect this change by way of the people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Charter.

Zulueta, vice president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) for Mindanao, said the opposition was given the opportunity to present its side during the Liga discussions on Charter change, but its invited representative, Rep. Francis Escudero, did not show up at the forum.

Zulueta said the PBMLP information blitz "in the name of people empowerment, would likewise ensure that both pro- and anti- Charter change advocates are able to present their respective sides on the issue, to afford the people a balanced, informed view about constitutional reforms."

In the Davao morning forum attended by the 300 city and barangay officials, Duterte pledged to endorse the people’s initiative for constitutional amendments that would lead to a new, decentralized form of government conducive to Mindanao’s rapid economic growth.

Duterte pointed out that constitutional reforms "would benefit local governments by way of providing them with greater autonomy and powers to manage their own resources and pursue their respective development programs."

The 700 other business and sectoral leaders threw their support behind Charter change during a separate afternoon forum held by Lorenzana and other AdCom members.

Lawyer Raul Lambino, who chairs the AdCom committee on government structure and is spokesman of the Sigaw ng Bayan, said the endorsement of these 1,000 leaders led by Duterte would further solidify Mindanao’s support for constitutional reforms.

Cha-cha train runs against Senator Express

Proponents of Charter change (Cha-cha) staged yesterday the so-called "Cha-Cha Train Caravan" from Manila to Quezon City not only to inform the public of a need for constitutional reforms but also to counteract the anti-people’s initiative "Senator Express."

Sigaw ng Bayan volunteers led by its secretary general Efren de Luna staged a motorcade that started at 8:30 a.m. at Liwasang Bonifacio and ended at the Quezon City Hall in the afternoon.

Along the way caravan participants distributed leaflets to inform the public about the real purpose and benefit of Charter change.

De Luna said the information drive would counteract plans of at least 10 senators to conduct the socalled "Senator Express" information campaign against Cha-cha and the people’s initiative.

"If the senators will conduct their massive information drive against Charter change and the people’s initiative, the coalition will intensify our own campaign through the Cha-cha train caravan," he said.

"They can have discussions and consultations even in the farthest island of the country, but in the end, the people will choose to support Cha-cha because it is the genuine call of different sectors nationwide, not of politicians who are afraid to lose power," De Luna said. (Raymund F. Antonio)