Comelec receives more signature pages for Cha-cha

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections has so far received about 600 signature pages for the amendment of the 1987 Constitution, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday.

The election body on Wednesday reported receiving around 400 signature pages.

“Sa ngayon, as of this time, mga kulang kulang 600 na municipalities and cities, and again, patuloy ‘yung pagka-classify namin kung ‘yang mga municipalities na ‘yan and cities ay belonging to a particular district or what,” Garcia said.

(Currently, there are approximately 600 municipalities and cities. We are continuously working on classifying whether these municipalities and cities belong to a specific district.)

Garcia explained earlier that the next step after the submission of signature forms will be the issuance of certification to the proponent or the  group that submitted the forms.

As stated in the 1987 Constitution, petitioners must collect signatures from at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters, with each legislative district represented by at least three percent of its registered voters.

The petition, however, needs appraisal for sufficiency in form and substance.

If the petition passed assessment, election officers can now determine if the signatures came from legitimate and current registered voters.

Then, if the number of signatures meets the requirement, a plebiscite can be scheduled.