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Friday, August 25, 2006
Plebiscite before yearend?
Malacañang expects a plebiscite on constitutional amendments in late November or early December if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) approves the signature campaign of Sigaw ng Bayan and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap).
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye yesterday said he received reports that the Sigaw ng Bayan and Ulap are planning to submit the results of their signature drive before the Comelec today.
Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio said if the Comelec paves the way for a plebiscite that will push Charter change by 2007 the elections in May will no longer be for the Senate or the House but for members of Parliament.
Malacañang supports the “immediate objective” of the Charter change campaign, which is a shift from the bicameral presidential system to a unicameral parliamentary system.
Bunye said the people’s initiative drive should be given a chance because a lot of people worked hard to gather the more than eight million signatures.
Meanwhile, Raul Lambino, spokesman of Sigaw ng Bayan, confirmed in a press forum that they will file a petition for acceptance and approval of the verified signatures before the Comelec today.
They were able to get the remaining unverified signatures from the second district of Makati City headed by election officer Melanie Lagera. Makati is a bailiwick of the opposition.
Lambino, together with Manila Mayor Jose “Lito” Atienza and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, Ulap president, will file the petition at 3 p.m. but they will first converge at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum where they will wait for the boxes of signatures authenticated and verified by the election officers of the Comelec nationwide.
He said they will attach to the petitions the certifications issued by the respective election officers and not the entire 10 million signatures that they were able to gather during their nearly seven-month advocacy and campaign.
Lambino said their petition will contain the text of the proposed laws to be amended: “Do you approve of the amendment of Articles VI and VII of the 1987 Constitution, changing the form of government from the present bicameral-presidential to a unicameral-parliamentary system of government, in order to achieve greater efficiency, simplicity and economy in government and providing asn article XVII as transitory provisions for the orderly shift from one system to another?.”
He said the proposed amendments do not cover the entire Constitution but only some of its provisions.
A representative of One Voice, an anti-Charter change group, said in a separate press conference that they expect that Comelec to junk the petition to be filed by Sigaw Ng Bayan and Ulap.
Professor Rene Azurin of the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration said if the Comelec accepts the petition, they will elevate the matter to the Supreme Court (SC).
Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, said the “real battle will be in the High Tribunal” since the Comelec is prohibited from entertaining any petition for people’s initiative without any enabling law.
He said the Santigo versus Comelec ruling issued by the Supreme Court in March 1997 specifically states that the Comelec is barred from accepting any petition to amend the Constitution due to the absence of an enabling law to effect the revision of the 1987 Charter. (Sunnex)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 25, 2006 issue)
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