75% of Youth Oppose Charter Change – Survey

A one-month survey by a youth think-tank in Metro Manila shows that the youth are looking for social change since they are also affected by the political crisis.

BY JHONG DELA CRUZ
Bulatlat

A survey conducted by independent youth think-tank Institute for Nationalist Studies (INS) revealed 75 percent of youth in Metro Manila rule out Charter Change as means to resolve the lingering political conflict in the country.

The survey, conducted from February 6 to March 3, had 715 youth respondents in Metro Manila, 89 percent (644) of which were students from 12 major colleges and 11 percent (104) were out-of-school-youth, housewives, employed and underemployed in urban poor communities.

Opposed

According to INS Spokesperson Joseph Cuevas, the survey aims to know the youth's perception of the government's plan to change the 1987 Constitution.

"From what we have gathered, the youth particularly in Metro Manila are aware of the cha-cha (charter change) and are opposed to it," he said.

Eighty-two percent of the respondents said they are aware of the government's plan to change the 1987 Constitution.

The Macapagal-Arroyo administration had long been pushing for cha-cha which seeks to change the form of government from presidential to parliamentary. The shift would then cancel the 2007 national elections to make way for an interim parliament. The plan includes making President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo the transitory president until such time that the new congress can put in place a prime minister to govern the state.

Not Arroyo

Seventy-five percent or 533 of respondents do not believe that charter change is the solution to the country's economic and political crisis.

Of the 25 percent or 182 in favor of charter change, 117 respondents said they will let Arroyo finish her term in 2010 and, in the meantime, serve as transitory president. The remaining 65 respondents do not want Arroyo to complete her term.

"This means that even when there is cha-cha as alternative, a number of youth still doubt her effectivity to muster the success of a reformed government," Cuevas said.

The INS also asked the 533 respondents opposed to charter change to choose from six options regarding what must be done. There were 213 respondents who wanted Arroyo to resign; 170 respondents said the presidential-type should be maintained; 69 respondents backed unity and reconciliation; 37 respondents agreed to people's uprising to oust Arroyo; 11 respondents wanted Martial Law; 11 respondents supported military junta; and 22 respondents did not answer.

"Definitely, the youth are looking for a change. This political bickering is affecting them one way or another," he said.

More disadvantages

However, Cuevas noted that the youth see more disadvantages in changing the 1987 Constitution.

"The results were consistent for those who approve cha-cha and those who do not...25 percent of those in favor saw greater opportunity for employment and education while those who oppose it (44 percent) said their rights as a sector will be limited," he said.

Sixteen percent of those surveyed said that a "loss of patriotic consciousness among youth" will worsen. The worsening of the political crisis (2 percent) was also one of the perceived effects of charter change.

The survey has a 3.6-percent margin of error. Only a fraction of the respondents were sought during the one-week imposition of the Presidential Proclamation No. 1017. Bulatlat

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