Recto : Peoples initiative got zero in Lipa

Now it can be told. Sen. Ralph Recto has finally revealed that Lipa City was the only place in the country in which the peoples initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution failed to get a single signature. Of the 117 cities in the country and 1,400 municipalities in 77 provinces, it is only in Lipa where the initiative was rejected, Recto told a press briefing in Cagayan de Oro. Now it can be told : Not a single soul signed in Lipa . We didnt disclose that information before because it is not in our character to thump our chest, Recto said. Recto made this revelation yesterday to douse cold water on speculations that administration senatorial candidates would conspire to resurrect a Charter change campaign with a narrow agenda. It is the only area in the country that voted zero for the initiative. It was not San Juan or Makati, both opposition bailiwicks, which thumbed down Charter change with conviction, he added. Recto never stated publicly during the entire period of the Charter change campaign that he would vehemently oppose tinkering with the Constitution. He credited that mayor of Lipa and Church leaders as responsible for the zero signature of the PI in the city. He added : Iba syempre, pag order ini Mrs.

Recto said the people of Lipa should be congratulated for such boldness and daring to go against the tide .

The senator said building a strong and resilient nation cannot be done by the wave of a wand or a stroke of the pen.

Recto stressed that the process of nation-building requires constant study and touching base with the grassroots to determine what the people really need.

I would not second-guess our people since they know best. Lets us not plunge headlong into something that we might rue in the future, he counseled.

Batanguenos, for one, have shown independence of mind . They know full well that haste makes waste, so they would go for a mode of Charter change where issues are fully discussed,

Recto clarified that he was not against Charter change per se, provided that the object of revision are the economic provisions in order to attract job-creating investments.

There is no perfect Constitution on the planet as things change, attitudes change, the economy changes and the law, no matter how hard it is, also changes.

I would rather that the people decide, not political leaders and special interest groups who play doctors and prescribe medication to a nation that does not want it, he explained.