PIRMA head faces Senate contempt raps

The People's Modernization Initiative for Reform, and Action or PIRMA must divulge to the Senate the names of donors who funded the television ad bashing EDSA people power or face criminal charges, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros warned yesterday.

- MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

In pushing for a people's initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution, PIRMA has funded a television ad that blamed the post-EDSA Charter for the country's slow progress.

The ad coined the term "EDSApwera" - a reference to "etsapwera" or ignored - to send the message that the masses did not benefit from the gains of the 1986 uprising, which restored democracy in the country after the two-decade dictatorship of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Hontiveros bristled at PIRMA lead convenor Noel Oñate's claim during the previous Senate electoral reforms hearing that donors wanted to keep their identities confidential.

Oñate claimed that he funded half of the P55-million ad out of his own pocket, while the other half came from contributors.

"If the donors to the TV ad are worried about their privacy or security, then the list could be submitted and examined in an executive session, as mentioned by committee chair Sen. Imee Marcos," Hontiveros said.