Charter change ‘signature’ sheets start to arrive at Comelec offices

Commission on Elections chief George Garcia (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said its local offices across 400 cities and municipalities nationwide had started receiving signature sheets and forms for the ongoing people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.

“It can’t be determined yet how many [legislative] districts cover these 400 cities and municipalities. We’re receiving reports almost nationwide, from Cordillera to the Bangsamoro [regions] of our local offices receiving signature pages,” Comelec Chair George Garcia told reporters.

“We will just receive what were submitted to us. It’s prescribed under our guidelines. We don’t have a choice but to receive them,” he added, referring to Comelec Resolution No. 10650, which was issued in January 2020, containing the revised rules and regulations on the conduct of such campaigns

Yet to be verified

According to Garcia, the reported number of received documents do not yet include signature sheets submitted to the wrong local Comelec offices, such as the offices of the provincial election supervisors.

The signature sheets were accompanied by a Comelec form containing a declaration on the number of signatures collected. Under Comelec rules, the local election officers will only count the signatures, but will not yet verify whether they are genuine or not, or if they represent registered voters, Garcia said.

After issuing a certification on the number of signatures to the proponent and sending a copy to the Comelec clerk, the sheets will be in the custody of the local election offices until the Comelec en banc orders their verification, Garcia added.

No jurisdiction yet

“[This is] so that we can compare the numbers later once a petition is filed,” he added.Lawyer John Rex Laudiangco, Comelec spokesperson, confirmed that the signature pages “mentioned Article 17 of the 1987 Constitution and the proposed amendment thereto.”

Garcia and Laudiangco reiterated that the Comelec had no jurisdiction yet on the initiative drive as the actual petition had not yet been filed by the proponents with the Comelec clerk.

“There will only be jurisdiction when a petition is filed, the filing fee is paid, and when we say it’s sufficient in form and substance,” Garcia said.

Aside from the proposed amendment, the petition under oath must contain an abstract or summary of the proposition and a statement that before the signatures were affixed, the signatories read and understood what the amendment was all about, and that they are aware that their signing meant they approved the amendment.

The poll body’s clerk should also certify that the proposed amendment is an appropriate subject. The Comelec en banc will then determine if the initiative petition is sufficient in form, with the proponents being required to pay in full a filing of fee of P30,000, and verification fees ranging from P50,000 to P100,000 for 7 million to 8 million signatures.

3% per district

The local election offices will then verify the signature sheets in their custody and issue the certification that the signatories represent at least 3 percent of all registered voters in the legislative district, a requirement under the Constitution.

The Constitution also requires that the total number of signatures represent at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters nationwide.

After a 60-day signature verification period, the sheets will be submitted to the Comelec en banc which will determine if the number of signatures are sufficient and compliant with the constitutional requirements, and, after resolving appeals, schedule the plebiscite that must be held within 60 days to 90 days.

Not gov’t-funded

Under the Constitution, there are three ways to introduce constitutional amendments: upon the vote of three-fourths of all members of Congress; via constitutional convention; and through direct proposals in a petition of at least 12 percent of registered voters.

For people’s initiatives, Comelec Resolution No. 10560 prohibits those calling for a constitutional revision, statutes involving emergency measures and measures embracing more than one subject.

The same resolution states that signatures in the Charter change drive may be voided if these were sought using government funds.

Under Section 16 of the measure, the gathering of signatures for the people’s initiative “shall not be funded from public sources.”