MANILA — The renewed attempt to amend the 1987 Constitution through people’s initiative will have to settle whether it should be allowed at all, a former Supreme Court associate justice said Sunday, referring to a 1997 decision that the law allowing it only applies to legislation.
Speaking on TeleRadyo Servisyo, retired SC Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna said the court ruled in Santiago v. Comelec that Republic Act No. 6735, or the Initiative and Referendum Act, is insufficient for constitutional amendments.
“That law cannot be a basis for the people’s initiative because there is a deficiency,” Azcuna said, noting that RA 6735 does not prescribe what a petition to amend the Constitution would look like and what it should say.
“The provision is different, the policy is different if the constitution is involved,” he said.
The 1997 decision was on a petition by People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (PIRMA), which has revived the campaign in 2024.
The Supreme Court, in Santiago v. Comelec, said the poll body “should be permanently enjoined from entertaining or taking cognizance of any petition” on people’s initiative for constitutional amendment until a “sufficient” law is passed for it.
It also urged Congress to pass a law “to provide for the implementation of the right of the people under that system.”
The current signature campaign seeks to amend the 1987 Constitution to specify that Congress will vote jointly on constitutional amendments and revisions.
Azcuna, a member of the constitutional convention that drafted it, said that section was meant for a unicameral system and that delegates failed to edit it for a bicameral system, which is what the Philippines has now.
CHANCE TO REVIEW SANTIAGO V. COMELEC
He said that the current people’s initiative campaign could be a chance for the Supreme Court to review Santiago v. Comelec, noting that 10 justices in the decision on Lambino v. Comelec — another attempt at people’s initiative in 2006, disagreed that RA 6735 is insufficient.
Azcuna said the court did not go into Santiago v. Comelec in 2006 because it was clear that the Lambino petition was for constitutional revision, which cannot be done through people’s initiative.
He added that the opinions of the 10 justices on RA 6735 were “ober dictum”, or made in passing, and did not reverse Santiago v. Comelec.
“In my opinion, that resolution is not a change of the Santiago decision,” he said.
He added that the petition can be brought to court when the Comelec accepts and processes it or if it refuses to do so.
COMELEC: WE ARE BOUND TO ACCEPT PETITIONS
Comelec Chairman George Garcia, in a separate interview, said that the poll body has a constitutional duty to accept and process petitions filed before it.
“We will accept as long as we pay the filing fee,” he said, adding the Comelec will then have to check whether any petition is sufficient in form and substance before tasking its regional offices to verify the signatures on the petition.
Garcia, a lawyer, said that Comelec has taken the position that it can accept petitions for people’s initiative because of the decision in Lambino v. Comelec.
The commission issued Resolution 10650 in January 2020 setting rules and regulations for petitions through RA 6735.
Under those rules, the full text of the proposed amendment to the Constitution must be written on the petition or should be included as an attachment.
Petitioners must also include the reason for the proposed amendment and a short summary of the proposition “at the top of every page of the petition.”
They must also affirm that signatories understood the proposal and knew that signing meant approval of the proposal and consent to the filing of the petition.
Garcia stressed that expenses for these petitions cannot come from government funds and that signatures can be invalidated if it is proven that they were done in exchange for money from public funds.
“No [ito] vote-buying because technically this signature is not a vote, but it will be possible — especially since the money used is the people’s money, that’s Anti-Graft,” he also said.
Government agencies, including the Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare and Development, have denied reports that aid programs are being used to convince voters to support the people’s initiative campaign.
Source: ABS-CBN News
