House bill aims to provide enabling law for PI

MANILA, Philippines — Independent opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman has filed a bill in the House of Representatives that will introduce an enabling law and comply with the Supreme Court requirement on the people’s initiative (PI) mode of amending the 1987 Constitution.

Lagman said House Bill 9868 (“Enabling Law on People’s Initiative to Propose Amendments to the Constitution”) would make the initiative more “compliant” with the Supreme Court order “so that our people can validly and properly exercise their right of initiative to propose amendments to the Constitution.”

The Albay first district congressman also called on the proponents of Charter change via PI to “stop forthwith the misadventure because there is no enabling law implementing the process by which the people can exercise their right to directly propose amendments to the Constitution.”

This is in light of the SC ruling in March 1997 where it unanimously held in Santiago vs Comelec that the “Initiative and Referendum Act (RA 6735) is not a sufficient, adequate, compliant and enabling law to implement the exercise of PI to directly propose constitutional amendments.”

The SC ruled in the case that the “Comelec should be permanently enjoined from entertaining or taking cognizance of any petition for initiative on amendments to the Constitution until a sufficient law shall have been validly enacted to provide for the implementation of the system.”

Lagman noted that a subsequent ruling in Lambino vs Comelec in October 2006 also failed to cure the constitutional defect since the justices discussed it only in passing, but did not rule or vote on it categorically, which meant the old ruling stays.

“Any side statement in Lambino stating that 10 magistrates are in favor of abandoning the doctrine in Santiago is a mere obiter dictum, which does not constitute the ratio decidende or rationale for the decision, neither does it constitute a precedent,” Lagman explained.

“It (obiter dictum) is an ‘aside commentary’ with scant jurisdictional value,” he said, noting that retired SC justices Antonio Carpio and Adolf Azcuna “confirmed that the Santiago ruling was not abandoned in Lambino and an obiter dictum is never controlling.”

Meanwhile in Bataan, the provincial Comelec office announced on Friday that its city and municipal election offices have stopped receiving signature sheets for PI.

Provincial election supervisor Chris Ian Silva said a Comelec memorandum ordered the election offices in Balanga City and Bataan’s 11 towns to stop accepting the gathered signatures.

This as Philippine National Police chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. urged the police force at a press briefing yesterday to maintain professionalism in handling issues concerning the PI.

“For me, that’s a political issue and the police should limit their actions and decisions solely in upholding the rule of law,” Acorda said, adding that if the actions in the exercise of PI border on criminal acts or violate the law, the police may intervene.

He highlighted the need for clear violations of the law and emphasized that the police should not participate in matters that do not contravene existing laws.

When asked about clear violations, Acorda explained that a people’s initiative should reflect the genuine will of the people, free from external influences such as coercion or bribery.

He noted that bribery, in particular, already borders on criminality and may warrant police intervention. — Mark Ernest Villeza