ALBAY Rep. Edcel Lagman yesterday said administration lawmakers allegedly “buying” signatures for the people’s initiative petition to amend the Constitution have violated the Omnibus Election Code.
“If the campaign for people’s initiative to amend the Constitution is inspired by noble and patriotic motives, then why buy the people’s will?” Lagman asked in a statement.
The opposition lawmaker particularly cited Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code in relation to Section 19 of the Initiative and Referendum Act or Republic Act No. 6735, which states that: “Any person who gives, offers or promises money or anything of value; gives or promises any office or employment, franchise or grant, public or private, or makes or offers to make an expenditure, directly or indirectly, or cause an expenditure to be made to any person, association, corporation, entity, or community in order to induce anyone or the public in general, to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election, or to vote for or against any aspirant for the nomination or choice of a candidate in a convention or similar selection process of a political party.”
He said the same provision also covers “any person, association, corporation, group or community who solicits or receives, directly or indirectly, any expenditure or promise of any office or employment, public or private, for any of the foregoing considerations.”
Last Saturday, Lagman said congressmen from the supermajority coalition have already launched a campaign for Charter change via a people’s initiative and bared that municipal mayors in Albay were notified of a general meeting last Friday by the League of Mayors of the province with an undisclosed agenda.
During the meeting, he said the attendees were supposedly informed that people’s initiative will be used as a mode of amending the Constitution and they were given mobilization funds and forms to be signed by at least three percent of registered voters of the legislative district to which their municipalities belong.
Lagman claimed that voters who would sign the petition will be given P100 each, “50 percent of which has already been advanced to the municipal mayors and respective coordinators.”
Lagman said former Ako Bicol party-List Rep. Alfredo Garbin is expected to deny that the various municipal mayors present during the meeting at the Ellis Hotel in Legazpi City received from Ako Bicol coordinators half of the total amount of the P100 per voter payoff, which constitutes three percent of the total voters per municipality comprising their legislative districts.
He said Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon was also present at the Ellis Hotel which, Lagman said, is reputedly owned by Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co, who is the chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations.
Lagman alleged the initial purpose of Charter change through a people’s initiative is to make the voting in the constituent assembly (con-ass) of representatives and senators or to call for a constitutional convention (con-con) via joint voting “in order to overwhelm by superiority of numbers the senators by the representatives.”
He said the next phase of the Cha-cha campaign may be the “liberalization of the economic provisions of the Constitution purportedly to induce foreign direct investments and the extension of term limits of elected officials, both of which are not necessary and disruptive of collective efforts to address serious economic concerns which could not be remedied by Charter Change.”
SIGNATURE DRIVE
The Liberal Party lawmaker said the campaign is being undertaken nationwide “as congressmen belonging to various political parties have been sent the necessary forms.”
Sen. Imee Marcos said she has received information that congressmen and local executives, at least in the Ilocos region, Leyte, Central Visayas, and the Bicol region, were allegedly promised millions of pesos in financial assistance for them to convince at least three percent of their respective registered voters to sign the petition for P100 each signature.
She said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was supposedly tapped to dole out P5 million under its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program, the Department of Health (DOH) for P10 million under its Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) program, and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for P5 million under its in Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.
However, Marcos did not identify who was behind the signature campaign but hinted that it was “someone with unlimited access and control over listed funds.”
“Our Constitution is not for sale. We denounce those allegedly bribing districts, LGUs, and potential signatories openly and shamelessly to agree to a people’s initiative,” Marcos said.
“Congressmen, local executives are asked to provide lists of beneficiaries which could be their staff coordinators’ relatives. But as always, how to prove? Yari na naman ang three frontline social departments — DSWD, DOH, and DOLE (These three frontline social departments — DSWD, DOH, and DOLE — were once again tapped),” she added.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said the move is “unethical and illegal” and violates the laws and “undermines the democratic process.”
“The people’s initiative is a constitutional right that should be exercise freely and without coercion. Whoever is behind this sinister move to tinker with the 1987 Constitution should be investigated and prosecuted for engaging in such unlawful activity. The people’s trust in the democratic process must be protected and preserved,” Estrada said.
According to RA 6735 or the enabling law implementing people’s initiatives to propose amendments to the Constitution, the public can propose constitutional amendments through a people’s initiative by lodging a petition signed by 12 percent of the total number of registered voters.
Each legislative district must be represented by at least three percent of registered voters its.
There are more than 67 million registered voters in the country.
Once the required number of signatures is reached, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will verify the signatures, before the general voting population can head to a referendum to decide whether or not they approve of the proposal/s.
‘PERFECT CONDITION’
Former President Rodrigo Duterte over the weekend said he is against any moves to amend the Constitution, which he said is in a “good” and “perfect condition.”
“Itong planned Cha-cha, hindi ako sang-ayon. We have a good Constitution… I find it, in perfect condition, absolutely nothing wrong with it (This planned Cha-cha, I do not agree with it. We have a good Constitution. I find it in perfect condition, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it),” Duterte said during a press conference in Davao on Saturday evening.
The former president acknowledged that while he pushed for Cha-cha during his incumbency, he was only advocating for a shift to a federal form of government aimed at bringing in more progress to the country, especially the countryside, and not to perpetuate himself or anyone in office.
He said the Cha-cha then, however, did not progress because there was always a suspicion that some leaders were doing it for personal gains. — With Raymond Africa and Jocelyn Montemayor
