Majority of Filipinos against Cha-cha now, federalism – Pulse Asia

Pulse Asia’s recent survey on Charter change (Cha-cha) revealed that at present, two in three Filipinos are against the revision of the 1987 Constitution.

According to the pollster’s findings for its Ulat ng Bayan June 2018 Nationwide Survey on Cha-cha, 37% oppose it and 30% are against it at present but are open to it sometime in the future. Meanwhile, 18% support the revision of the Constitution, and the remaining 14% are undecided yet.

“Public opinion on this issue is virtually the same in March and June 2018. During the period March to June 2018, the overall level of support for charter change now declines (-5 percentage points) while public opposition against it now and in the future becomes more notable (+5 percentage points),” Pulse Asia wrote.

In terms of results in terms of different areas and socio-economic groups, the survey found that the majority is still against Cha-cha at present.

“In particular, big pluralities in Metro Manila (40%), the rest of Luzon (40%), the Visayas (43%), and Class D (38%) are against charter change now and in the future. About the same percentages of those in Class E either reject it now and in the future (32%) or oppose it now but may be supportive of it in the future (30%),” the report said.

It then added that a majority opposition on Cha-cha is nearly at the same percentage in Mindanao and Class ABC at 34% and 30% respectively, with those who support at 28% and 25% respectively, and those who are against it at present and in the future at 26% and 38% respectively.

Filipinos on federalism

In line with the administration’s proposed amendments to make way for a federal form of government, Pulse Asia’s results revealed that this shift from a unitary form of government is rejected by most Filipinos at 62%.

The 62% can be broken down to the 34% of Filipinos opposing federalism now and in the future and 28% being against it at present but also open to it in the future. Filipinos who support the shift is at 28% while 10% are undecided.

Pulse Asia noted that in terms of geography, only Mindanao had a majority level of support on federalism at 51%, as National Capital Region (NCR), Balance Luzon, and Visayas had major opposition at 65%, 72%, and 56% respectively.

In terms of their knowledge on a federal system of government, according to the pollster, there is little awareness with almost seven out of 10 Filipinos admitting that they have a low-level understanding of the subject.

“Majorities across geographic areas and socio-economic classes know little/almost nothing/nothing at all about the alternative system of government that is being proposed to replace the current unitary system (60% to 77% and 54% to 79%, respectively). Of the total figure (69%), 43% know little about the proposed federal system while 27% know almost nothing/nothing at all about it,” Pulse Asia wrote.

The survey fieldwork was conducted from June 15 to 21 using face-to-face interviews.

Pulse Asia cited some developments and events that may have affected the results which included the start of the regional consultations on the federal Constitution draft and the passage of the upper and lower chamber’s respective versions of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to its third and final reading.