Akbayan urges Comelec not to validate people’s initiative signatures

The people’s initiative signature sheets that were submitted in January 2024 at the Commission on Elections office in Arroceros, Manila.  (File photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Akbayan party President Rafaela David asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday not to validate the signatures collected for the people’s initiative (PI) to amend the 1987 Constitution.

According to David, the goal of the current people’s initiative was to perpetuate those in power and for the Comelec to learn from history.

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“We urge our election officials to heed the lessons of history and stand firm in not validating the signatures gathered under a fake people’s initiative to revise the Constitution to perpetuate a few in power,” David said.

She added that the commission should uphold democracy and described the PI as a tool to bastardize the Constitution.

“We call on the present Comelec to heed the lessons of history and not validate the tools of deception to bastardize our Constitution. They should validate democracy, not treachery. As an independent constitutional body, it should not play accomplice to attacks against our Constitution,” she added.

Currently, investigations are ongoing on the PI, which has caused friction between the House of Representatives and the Senate on the issues of constitutional amendments.