Akbayan Party to DILG: Food and financial aid, not charter change!

By Jinky Jorgio

Akbayan Party firmly believes the DILG’s pursuit for constitutional reform is an unnecessary luxury amid the COVID-19 crisis. 

Its stunt for charter change will only crowd out the time and funds needed to keep families safe during the pandemic. 

For the Filipino people, as evidenced by national surveys, changing the constitution is an issue of least concern; how much more in this current crisis?

Charter change will not provide additional and immediate financial assistance for Filipino families. Rushing two million signatures for Congress will not provide income guarantees or workplace safety for Filipino workers. 

Allowing full foreign ownership of industries will not expand or hasten COVID-19 testing. 

Any effort the DILG puts to keep the cha-cha ball rolling is simply a waste of time and resources.

Akbayan Party calls on DILG Secretary Eduardo Año to focus on strengthening local government units’ efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. 

The government lacks concrete plans for mass testing, leaving 99.8% of the population still untested. Moreover, 400,000 small-scale farmers, 1 million workers, and 11 million families have not received financial aid from the government. 

Addressing these problems must entail empowering paralyzed LGUs and complementing existing LGU initiatives.

Now, it is our collective duty to remain vigilant to such efforts towards Charter change. History tells us that those in power can exploit crises to forward their agenda; such was Marcos’ pursuit of charter change and dictatorial powers by promising rice for the hungry. 

It is the DILG’s mandate to prioritize our needs at this time, not to appease President Duterte and his agenda.