Focus on educating public on COVID vaccines instead of discussing economic Cha-cha, solon says

A lawmaker on Monday urged the House leadership to prioritize the education of the public about COVID-19 vaccines rather than having plenary debates about the proposed amendments to the restrictive economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution.

In a press statement, Camarines Sur Representative Luis Ray Villafuerte said the hesitation of Filipinos to get vaccinated, as reflected in opinion surveys and remarks of some government officials, proves that time should be spent on public information drive about COVID-19 vaccines instead of the so-called economic Charter change.

“Why don’t they ask local officials if they still have time to tell people about Cha-cha while they are too busy with measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 in their communities and convincing people to get vaccinated to fight the disease?" Villafuerte said.

"The House leadership seems out of touch with reality and should come to their senses and spend their time and energy instead on helping encourage people to get vaccinated instead of conducting plenary debates beginning this week about the highly divisive issue of constitutional reform,” he added.

Earlier, Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco admitted that local government units have no time to deal

Villafuerte said a nationwide information campaign about COVID-19 vaccines is necessary to send the message to each and every Filipino that vaccines are safe and would help the country's economic recovery.

House Committee on Constitutional Amendments chair Alfredo Garbin Jr. has said he is expecting that the proposed amendments to the economic provisions will be tackled in the plenary this week.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco's Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2 seeks to amend existing economic provisions in the Constitution in a bid to open up the Philippines to foreign direct investments (FDIs) which could help the country recover from the health crisis.

According to Villafuerte, economic Cha-Cha "would only polarize the country at this point when national unity in fighting COVID-19 is of paramount importance."

He said this would not bring immediate reform that could help in the ongoing economic recovery efforts as the current proposal "does not directly give the Congress the power to instantly relax certain constitutional restrictions on the economy." —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News