The Cha-cha train keeps chugging along.

Until now, the Commission on Elections continues to receive signature sheets from municipalities and cities in support of amending Section 1, Article XVII (Transitory Provisions) of the 1987 Constitution, with signatories from the different barangays nationwide not knowing the nuances and implications of the amendment.

Cha-cha is not new to Filipinos. After the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, during the term of Pres. Corazon C. Aquino, all Presidents, except Pres. Benigno Aquino III, favored and almost all worked for the qualitative and quantitative changes in the Constitution. The Supreme Court, however, in the exercise of its supreme judicial power, rejected two Petitions, one in 1997 and the other in 2006, to amend the Constitution via the system of initiative.

Will Cha-cha open a Pandora’s box of problems to Filipinos?

The answer is yes.

For one, Cha-cha is divisive. Divides the country into pro Cha-cha and anti-Cha-cha proponents, releasing and straining so much physical and mental energies from both sides of the political divide. Even the House of Representatives, who go for Cha-cha through the initiative route, and the Senate, who go for Cha-Cha through the normal legislative route by adding “unless otherwise provided by law”, are disunited at a time when the country faces a growing array of challenges from within and without. Unity is much required in our country, and the government needs all the support and goodwill of Filipinos from all shades and strands of the political spectrum. Patrick Henry’s 1779 speech, “united we stand, divided we fall,” finds fit application in the present controversy.

For another, Cha-cha is expensive. As the wheels of Cha-Cha via initiative grind quickly, vast sums of money, all taxpayers’ money, will be involved at the expense of social services and economic opportunities for the people. The signature campaign in the entire archipelago, mobilizations, and verification of signatures by the COMELEC will mean use of public funds that will not generate much-wanted employment and much-needed socio-economic and political upliftment of the people. Worse, on January 17, 2024, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte called the signature campaign “pera kapalit nang pirma sa people’s initiative” (PDI, January 20, 2024).

Third, Cha-Cha will be an open sesame to changes not only in the economic provisions but also in the political, judicial, human rights, and social justice provisions in the Constitution. By outvoting the Senate in the joint voting because of the daunting numbers of Congressmen, term limits of elective public officers from the President down to barangay officials may be lifted, safeguards on the power to proclaim martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus relaxed, judicial power of the Supreme Court imperiled, etc.

Last, Cha-cha will spawn wrong values and attitudes among the young. They will think that a Constitution is open to changes every now and then like an ordinary law, not knowing that it is the fundamental law and should last for many generations, for many seasons. The signature campaign for supposedly material and monetary considerations will convey the wrong message that Constitutions can be changed by simply affixing one’s signature without the signatories understanding and the solicitor or promoter explaining. No rallies, no symposiums, no forum hall meetings, and no barangay assemblies are being held to explain what this amendment of Sec. 1, Article XVII is all about.

Time for our lawmakers to do the hard work of lawmaking and not Constitution-making. Public servant Joseph of the Old Testament (Gen. 41:44-57), who was focused and serious in addressing th e difficult times of the Egyptians and people of various nationalities, is one public servant worth emulating today.