Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Talks of a charter change or cha-cha are ongoing again after President Rody Duterte said he’d want to switch to a federal form of government.
Lawmakers are torn between a constitutional convention (con-con) and a constituent assembly (con-ass), but four out of 10 Filipinos (44 percent) don’t want any changes to the Constitution at this time, according to a Pulse Asia survey.
Meanwhile, 37 percent of Filipinos believe now is a good time to amend the Constitution. People from the National Capital Region (NCR) and Mindanao compose the majority of those in favor of cha-cha (47 percent). Thirty-seven percent of Luzon residents agree, as well as 29 percent of Visayans.
But the same survey showed that only around four out of 10 Filipinos (41 percent) were aware about ongoing proposals to change the charter.
And when asked about the 1987 Constitution, seven out of 10 Filipinos (73 percent), regardless of location and socioeconomic class, said they had little or no knowledge of it.
Twenty-seven percent of Filipinos, however, are confident about their Constitution knowledge. But among them, only 47 percent think a cha-cha should happen now.
Pulse Asia conducted the survey from July 2 to 8 using face-to-face interviews.
With a ±3 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level, the survey was based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults from NCR, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Watch: Amending the charter through con-ass
Read: Political dynasties can get in the way of charter change – Monsod
