Dabawenyos raise their lit candles during the “candlelight prayer rally” on Sunday, 28 January 2024, against moves to amend the 1987 Constitution. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 January) – “Dapat lang!” (They should), Antonio Arellano, Dean of the College of Law of the University of Mindanao, said of the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to suspend proceedings on the alleged “People’s Initiative” to amend the 1987 Constitution and ordered its Comelec offices nationwide to stop accepting signature sheets.
Arellano, a member of the Consultative Committee that was set up in 2018 by President Rodrigo Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution and submit recommendations after the review, said the People’s Initiative proceedings are to be governed by the Comelec Resolution on the Requirements and Procedures implementing the law on Initiative on the Constitution, but the law itself was declared by the Supreme Court in the case of Santiago vs Comelec as “incomplete, inadequate and wanting.”
“Without the Constitutionally required enabling law, there is no law which will serve as the basis of Comelec’s Rules to govern its proceedings. Verily, no law , no rules, no proceedings,” he said.
The Comelec on Monday suspended the acceptance of signature sheets for the alleged People’s Initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution and the effectivity of Resolution No. 10650 “pending the review and issuance of its enhanced guidelines.”
“The Commission en banc, in a unanimous decision, decided to suspend any and all proceedings concerning the people’s initiative. We have directed our local Comelec offices, our election officers in cities and municipalities to stop receiving signature sheets,” Comelec Chair George Garcia said in a press conference.
Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia (center) announces the Comelec en banc’s decision suspending proceedings related to “People’s Initiative” to amend the 1987 Constitution in a press conference on Monday, 29 January 2024 in Manila. (Screenshot of Comelec’s video post)
Garcia was with Commissioners Aimee Ferolino, Rey Bulay, Ferdinand Maceda Jr. and Nelson Celis when he made the announcement.
“Base sa aming assessment, kinakailangan naming i-review, i-enhance, dagdagan and aming existing IRR o implementing rules and regulations concerning the People’s Initiative dahil sa ating palagay, may mga bagay po na kulang at wala doon,” Garcia said.
But Arellano said the law on initiative must first be passed before the guidelines are made. He explained that in compliance with the Constitutional requirement, Congress enacted Republic Act 6735 or the “Law on Initiative” in 1989. But the Supreme Court ruled in the case of “Santiago vs Comelec” on March 19, 1997 that RA 6735 is “incomplete, inadequate, or wanting in essential terms and conditions insofar as initiative on amendments to the Constitution is concerned.”
Antonio Arellano, Dean of the College of Law of the University of Mindanao, talks about the 1987 Constitution and the modes of amending it during the Hakbang ng Maisug Leaders’ Forum in Davao City on 28 January 2024. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
He said Congress has yet to enact a law “necessary to meet the conditions set by the Court.”
According to Arellano, “Comelec rightly stopped its own proceedings precisely in the absence of the law.”
Gathering of signatures, he said, is not prohibited by law but is “clearly premature since there is still no law providing for the implementation of Initiative on the Constitution which includes standards to be observed in the implementation of the law by the Comelec.”
“The prerequisite issue is the absence of the constitutionally required law! Dapat enact muna the law before filing of petitions,” he said.
“Not a genuine People’s Initiative”
“In the first place it should not have happened because it is not a genuine People’s Initiative,” Dr. Jean Lindo, chair of Gabriela Southern Mindanao, said of the Comelec’s decision.
“I think there has been an overwhelming response by the citizens as to the strategy employed to make it appear like a people’s initiative,” she said.
“But then this should not mean the institution is aligned with a dynasty opposing it because they’re not aligned with a political dynasty behind it. The COMELEC should act independently,” she said.
Lindo was referring to the Duterte dynasty which is opposing moves to amend the 1987 Constitution and the Marcos dynasty that former President Duterte alleged to be behind the current move, particularly Marcos’ wife Liza, whom he referred to in last Sunday’s rally as “hungry for power” and Marcos’ first cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The Comelec’s press briefing on Monday came a day after the former President warned of more rallies nationwide against the alleged People’s Initiative that he said was not initiated by the people but by those who want to perpetuate themselves in power, referring to the Marcoses.
Bring down the price of rice
Leo Fuentes Jr., regional coordinator of farmers’ group Masipag Inc., said the recent move to revise the 1987 constitution is no different from the previous administrations’ move “and clearly this shall only serve the interests of the current administration and its foreign master.”
He said there are more pressing needs to be attended to, especially in the agriculture sector, and especially because Marcos promised to bring down the price of rice to 20 pesos per kilo.
Arturo Milan, co-chair of the Regional Development Council-Davao, lauded the Comelec’s decision “to save our country.”
“This move to amend the Constitution through the People’s Initiative has been very divisive,” he said, adding there are a lot of domestic problems that should be attended to by government, like high prices of food and fuel, deteriorating peace and order and corruption in government agencies “that are making the lives of our people more difficult.”
“I therefore urge our government officials to focus first on addressing the problems besetting our country and people today as you promised to give them a better life,” he said.
Romeo Cabarde, law professor and director of Ateneo Public Interest and Legal Advocacy Center, said the Comelec’s decision “highlights the need for a thorough review and enhancement of the rules governing the People’s Initiative process.”
“Insufficiencies in the current regulations must be addressed to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of this democratic mechanism. This temporary pause provides an opportunity to refine the guidelines, promoting a more transparent, accountable, and participatory approach to the People’s Initiative,” he said.
Rei Ochoa, a barangay worker, said the Comelec was right in suspending the proceedings “kay basin mamahimo ra kining abusohon sa mga taong gusto magdugay sa posisyon” (as this will be abused by those who want to perpetuate themselves in power).
“Usa pa ang pirma namo dili baligya” (Our signature is not for sale), Ochoa said. There has been no gathering of signatures in his barangay.
Panabo City Mayor Jose Relampagos, in a statement in Cebuano, said he hopes those behind the moves to amend the Constitution through the “People’s Initiative” would admit they fooled the people and trampled on their rights.
MindaNews sought comments from the former President through his long-time political strategist Leoncio Evasco and Evasco himself, but Evasco, Duterte’s former Cabinet Secretary, has yet to reply. Duterte’s children, Paolo, the first district Representative of Davao City, Sara the Vice President, and Sebastian the mayor, have not issued their own statements. (Carolyn O. Arguillas, Antonio L. Colina and Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
