Public urged: Read before signing PI

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AMID the ongoing signature gathering drive for a people’s initiative (PI) to amend the 1987 Constitution, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) called on the public to make sure that they read and understand why their signatures are being collected.

In an interview, Comelec chairman George Garcia said it is imperative for everybody to be aware what they are signing instead of immediately giving out their signatures without understanding or asking questions.

“Even in our ordinary lives, you don’t just sign documents without knowing what it is for. You should do it voluntarily and fully understand their implications,” said Garcia.

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“I believe Filipinos are wise and smart. They know what is right and what is wrong. Just be vigilant and always consider in everything you do what is best for the nation,” he added.

Should they decide to sign the forms, Garcia appealed to the public to sign clearly and correctly to make it easier for Comelec to verify their signatures.

“If you decide to sign, sign clearly and correctly so that the local Comelec won’t have difficulty verifying them. Also, if you will sign, use the one in your registration records. If they look different, even if you claim it as your signature, we can invalidate them,” he said.

For those who have already signed the PI and are now reconsidering their decision, the poll chief said they may still withdraw their signatures by submitting a manifestation with local Comelec offices.

“There is nothing preventing anyone from stating that they didn’t understand what they signed for and that they would want to withdraw their signatures. The local Comelec will take note of these manifestations and cause their removal,” he said, stressing: “The Comelec has the power to remove signatures. It is within our power to determine the regularity of these signatures gathered.”

The Comelec issued the statement amid the signature gathering activities being undertaken in different localities to gather enough number to support the attempt to amend the 1987 Constitution.

As of Thursday, Garcia related that about 600 city/municipal Offices of Election Officers (OEOs) have already started receiving signature pages for the proposed PI.

“Our local Comelec offices continue to receive signature forms on a daily basis. We have been getting reports (of submissions) from our local Comelec offices nationwide,” said Garcia.

PLEBISCITE

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda yesterday confirmed that PI proponents are eyeing the conduct of a plebiscite for the initiative to amend the Constitution by July.

“As explained to me by proponents, they want to hit it before July. July plebiscite,” Salceda told reporters when asked to explain the timeline of the PI campaign since the filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2025 elections is set in October.

Rep. Raoul Manuel (PL, Kabataan), a member of the Makabayan bloc, last week said the plan for the PI signature drive started as early as December 15, 2023, while the target plebiscite is intended to be finished by June 17 so that the results would be known by July 8, right before the SONA.

The youth party-list group said the July plebiscite would give pro-Cha-cha congressmen the opportunity to hold a constituent assembly on SONA day when members of Congress convene for a joint session.

Salceda said in jest that Manuel may have made the timeline for the PI proponents who are reportedly composed of local chief executives and officials across the country.

“Ang kalaban ng timeline na ‘yun (The problem with that timeline) is that by October, we will be filing (our COCs) already and there is no talk about them (proponents) going on parallel. Wala. Ang nasa isip lang (What’s on their minds) is that by 2025 there will be an election. Of course, it will proceed,” he said.

Salceda however denied Manuel’s claim that the Cha-cha campaign is meant to be a “gift” to President Marcos Jr. for his third State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) in July.

Salceda expressed confidence that the required signature for the PI will be attained by next week: “I think by next week, we must have already achieved the 12 percent, beyond the 12 percent.”

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Under the 1987 Constitution, Charter change may be proposed by the people through an initiative, or upon a petition of at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters in the country, with every legislative district represented by at least three percent of its registered voters.

Salceda said that in Albay alone, the proponents have already gathered the signature of 20 percent of the voting population.

Salceda said the signature drive should continue despite the Senate’s move to lead the review of economic provisions of the Constitution through a constituent assembly (con-ass) mode where congressmen and senators will vote separately on the amendments.

“I think we should allow the PI to reach its natural course, to reach its local conclusion,” he said. “We are in no position to stop it. It’s beyond any politician to stop it.”

“In a way, the genie is out of the bottle with respect to PI. I’ve heard that at least 60 districts have already complied (with the signature requirement), most of them are at 20 percent,” Salceda said.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri filed last Monday Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 after meeting with President Marcos Jr., whom he said tasked the upper house to spearhead a con-ass to tackle amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Zubiri said the President was allegedly not keen on the people’s initiative mode being pushed by the House of Representatives because it was supposedly “too divisive,” noting that PI proponents want the two houses of Congress to do a joint voting to approve proposed changes to the Charter, a tack that is advantageous to the Senate because there are only 24 senators compared to the more than 300 members of the House.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman has earlier alleged that PI advocates were supposedly paying P100 per registered voter who would sign the signature sheets to hasten the gathering of at least three percent of the number of registered voters per district, as required by the Constitution.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, who has been named by Zubiri to head a sub-committee of the Senate Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes to review the Constitution, said that under the con-ass he is planning to convene, the approval of the introduced amendments will require at least two-thirds votes from both the Senate and the House voting separately, unlike in the passing of regular laws which only need majority votes for approval.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers has said the tack that the Senate wants to take may eventually be questioned before the Supreme Court and render the initiative dead, the reason why he wants PI to continue.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the amendments can be voted upon by a two-thirds vote done separately by each chamber since the requirement is three-fourths of all members of Congress.

‘RISK LEADERSHIP’ 

Zubiri yesterday said he is willing to “risk” his leadership in the upper chamber if additional amendments other than revisions to economic provisions are tackled when senators start discussing Charter change.

“The public need not fear our push for simple but meaningful amendments to the Charter. I shall risk my leadership on that. No other motives whatsoever,” Zubiri said in a Viber message to the media.

Zubiri said he has talked with several senators who also assured him that no other amendments will be introduced other than the three economic provisions stated in RBH No. 6.

RBH No. 6 enjoins Senate and the House of Representatives to propose amendments limited to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.  It intends to include the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in Section 11, Article 12 (National Patrimony and Economy), Paragraph 2 Section 4 of Article 14 (Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture, and Sports), and Paragraph 2 Section 11 of Article 16 (General Provisions – Advertising).

“The Senate, almost all the senators I had spoken to and met with, only agree to economic amendments,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri made the assurance amid concerns that political revisions will be introduced once Cha-cha deliberations kick off when regular sessions of Congress resume on Monday, January 22.

Meanwhile, Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros cautioned her colleagues that the “Cha-cha journey is treacherous, impractical, divisive, and unwise,” especially when triggered by multiple hidden agendas, power struggle, and in-group bickering.

“I am strongly, with all due respect, cautioning my colleagues… Why are we attempting to solve our economic problems by creating another problem?” Hontiveros said in a statement.

Instead of fixing the economic provisions of the Constitution, Hontiveros said what the government can do is build investor confidence.

“We need to build confidence in governance by eliminating corruption and improving our business environment, not by creating more instability through Cha-cha,” she added.

She said amending the Constitution to open more industries to 100 percent foreign ownership “will only expose us to security risks and weaken our national interests in a time of global unrest.”

She said the proposal “stimulating and attracting more foreign investments” is already remedied by present laws “because the major part of our nation’s economy is already available for foreign participation, such as the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, Foreign Direct Investments Act, and Public Services Act.”

She also said the government should learn from the case of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which has 40 percent ownership by the Chinese.

“This is a giant red flag we should not ignore. It is very obvious that this Ch-cha will not put an end to this, and other economic woes. So, I am appealing to my colleagues in the Senate, let us move for more practical solutions that don’t involve creating bigger problems,” Hontiveros said.

“Let us not get distracted by the shiny allure of Cha-cha, when, beneath all the gloss, it will only trap us in a never-ending cycle of political maneuvering,” she added. — With Wendell Vigilia and Raymond Africa

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