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Thursday, April 06, 2006
Method of checking signatures questioned
The way the poll office intends to verify signatures in the so-called people’s initiative is not among those included in the rules of court, former governor Pablo Garcia said.
Also, signatures in a people’s petition must be affixed on the petition, and not the questionnaire that was peddled around the barangays for signing.
These are the points that Garcia raised on the movement, to add to his earlier questions on legalities such as the Supreme Court (SC) decision that “permanently enjoined” the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from acting on a people’s initiative, and that the initiative may be used only for amendments and not revision.
Comelec officers said they will verify signatures by looking at the data in their computers and comparing these with those affixed in the people’s initiative.
Provincial Election Officer Edwin Cadungog had admitted that they are not handwriting experts, so they will just certify that the signatures “appear to be the same.”
But Garcia said that what the Comelec will do is “not verification,” and is not within the rules of court.
Expert
According to the rules, signature verification must be done by an expert, by calling the signatory to authenticate his signature, or by calling a witness to the act of signing.
Advocates of the people’s initiative had cited that the Supreme Court could always be asked to revoke its previous stand. But Garcia said that unless it is revoked, the decision stays and must be followed.
“The Comelec should read carefully the decision,” he said.
The former governor, who was also a member of the Malacañang-created Constitutional Commission, said the only purpose that the ongoing signature campaign will serve is to find out or prove that people want revision.
Changing the form of government from presidential to parliamentary is already revision, and not just an amendment, he said. (JPM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 6, 2006 issue)
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