From Ramos to Marcos Jr., each and every regime has attempted to amend and revise the 1987 Constitution for the sake of their imperialist masters and their own ambitions to stay in power. The imperialists and foreign capitalists have long wanted to completely open the Philippine economy and pave the way for 100% foreign ownership and control of lands, unrestricted foreign investments and all-out exploitation of national resources. As the crisis that threatens the ruling few escalates, they grow more desperate in finding ways to save themselves from destruction.

NDF-Bikol affirms that any change in the Constitution that did not come from the people’s initiative and push, just like the amendments that Marcos Jr.’s political lackeys insist now, will only cause destitution, far worse economic policies and end up making this bankrupt semicolonial and semifeudal society fester.

It is true that the Filipino society has long been steeping in socioeconomic crises. Poverty, starvation, oppression and exploitation are everyday realities of the masses. But these cannot be resolved by simply amending the Constitution most especially when these changes only stand to serve the interests of a ruling few. The real roots of poverty in the country is the domination of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. As long as the rotten system remains unchanged, any move to review and revise the laws that exist within it will only worsen societal conditions.

It is a national and democratic duty of the people to continue opposing the Charter Change that the ruling few are after. It is just for them to defend their rights, civil liberties and basic bourgeois-democratic principles that are already in place within the current Constitution and instead hold the state accountable for failing to provide these to its constituents.