Ex-CJ: People’s initiative can change only minor provisions

MANILA, Philippines — Only minor amendments to the 1987 Constitution that are “clear and certain” are allowed through the people’s initiative, according to retired Supreme Court chief justice Artemio Panganiban.

“Major revisions are not allowed, only minor amendments that are clear and certain are allowed in a people’s initiative,” Panganiban said in an interview yesterday over dzBB.

He said revisions that would affect several provisions of the Charter, such as changing the government’s system from presidential to parliamentary and from centralized to federal, cannot go through a people’s initiative.

Panganiban explained that in other ways to amend the Charter like the constitutional convention and the constituent assembly, representatives of the people will have a public hearing where debates will be held.

In this way, the public would have an idea on what they will be voting for in the subsequent plebiscite.

“In a people’s initiative, there is no people’s consultation, there is no debate. The public are only presented with a question and they only have to answer yes or no,” he said.

A people’s initiative is a possible way to amend or make changes to the Constitution.

Under Republic Act 6735, amendments can be directly proposed by the people if a petition for an initiative has at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters as signatories.

For each district, no fewer than 3 percent of registered voters should sign the petition. The signatures would then be verified by the Comelec.

“Our lawmakers cannot spearhead a people’s initiative because in our Constitution, they were given a way to amend the Charter, which is through constituent assembly,” Panganiban said.

Allegations of bribery in the proposed people’s initiative recently floated with public officials allegedly buying signatures and tricking people into signing documents that supposedly show there is a public clamor to amend the Charter.

If proven to be true, Panganiban said the signatures already submitted to the Comelec will become void.

“We can’t fool the people, pay them for votes or include fake voters,” he said.

The poll body is mandated to verify the signatures in a people’s initiative, which Panganiban said would take a long time to conduct.