Despite their well-known bitter feud, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez said on Monday that he would stand with Vice President Sara Duterte as she fiercely opposes moves to amend the Constitution.

“We haven’t talked yet. But if you ask me if I will support her, categorically, yes. For one reason — she is from Mindanao. No matter what happens, her heart is still a Mindanaoan’s,” Alvarez said in an interview.

Reports about an alleged bribery campaign to tweak the nearly 37-year-old Constitution through a People’s Initiative, or PI, have been making the rounds since last week.

Various districts, including Davao, have supposedly been the target of the signature-buying drive, which the VP and her brother, Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte, vehemently criticized.

Last week, VP Duterte took a jab at the politicians suspected of being the architects of the signature-buying in the PI effort for Charter change, or cha-cha.

In early January, Rep. Duterte accused PBA Partylist Rep. Margarita Nograles of spearheading the PI movement in Davao City and warned Davaoeños not to sell their signatures for a mere P100 or P10,000.

But Nograles, also a Mindanaoan, debunked this claim, saying she was in the United States.

Senate plays along

“I cannot see the importance of changing the Constitution now. I don’t know whose interest (it would serve). Is it the people’s interest, or somebody’s interest? The country faces more serious problems now,” Alvarez said.

As House Speaker, Alvarez wanted the Constitution revamped to change the form of government from presidential to federal.

The Senate, dominated by cha-cha opponents, has softened its stance after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sought a review of the economic provisions of the Constitution, which led to the filing of the Resolution of Both Houses 6 by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri proposing amendments to Articles XII, XIV, and XVI of the Charter.

Meanwhile, most Filipinos do not consider cha-cha an urgent national concern as they prefer that the government focus on controlling the increase in prices of basic goods and services.

Based on the results of the December 2023 “Tugon ng Masa” survey released on Monday, more than seven out of 10 Filipinos think that taming inflation is the most important national issue.

“In December 2023, the urgency to control the increase in the prices of basic goods and services persisted among adult Filipinos. There was a substantial increase from 52 percent in July 2023 to the latest figure of 73 percent, marking a notable 21 percentage point increase,” the survey pointed out. “It was also the top concern across major areas and income classes,” it added.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country’s inflation rate declined for the third straight month to 3.9 percent in December 2023 from the 4.1 percent inflation rate observed in November.

The average inflation rate in 2023 was 6 percent, beyond the government’s planned range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

On the other hand, the second most pressing issue for adult Filipinos is to have more access to affordable food such as rice, vegetables and meat (45 percent).

Concerns of Filipinos also include decreasing poverty (32 percent), raising worker compensation (34 percent), and generating jobs (36 percent).

Only one percent of Filipino adults see amending the 1987 Constitution, also known as cha-cha, as a primary concern.