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Sunday, January 07, 2007
New people's initiative 'may put off May polls'
MANILA -- There is now a possibility that the May 14 mid-term elections may be deferred.
This is according to Cagayan de Oro Representative Constantino Jaraula, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, following reports that Commission on Elections (Comelec) had already gave the green light to proponents of people's initiative by issuing implementing guidelines.
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"If they do that, we are certain that they will be guided now by the standards of the Supreme Court (SC), which will be well and good, but the problem will be the time left and the May 10 elections," Jaraula said.
"It would be a tedious job for the Comelec and it may not be able to do what it is ought to do. If the plebiscite will be held in March then we will be having a mid-term elections by May, it will be chaotic, the Comelec will have a hard time printing the ballots. Time will be too short," the congressman said, as he pointed out that efforts to revive people's initiative seemed not a welcome development after all.
And while Jaraula did not discount the possibility of a no-election, his colleagues in the administration bloc simply described the scenario talks as "baseless and just another effort of the opposition to bring down the Arroyo government."
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero believed that a new people's initiative suit will not affect the holding of the May elections because the petitioners would have a hard time gathering new signatures and verifying them.
Party list Representative Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis criticized the Comelec for rushing the people's initiative proponents to file their suit as it already came up with new guidelines that will govern the filing of such a petition by the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines and the Sigaw ng Bayan.
The resolution issued by the Comelec, according to Beltran, was another "cockeyed government scheme to rush Charter change" that will eventually lead to no elections.
At the Senate, Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the Arroyo administration and its allies are harboring false hopes by planning a last-ditch attempt to revive Charter change before the mid-term elections this year.
Pimentel said the attempt by pro-administration groups to launch a second attempt to amend the 1987 Constitution through people's initiative is bound to fail for lack of time and its doubtful constitutional basis.
He criticized Malacañang and its political allies for turning back on their word that Charter change should be pursued after the next elections.
They took the position after the first petition for people's initiative, which seeks the adaptation of a unicameral parliamentary system, was thrown out by the SC and after the move to convene Congress into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) collapsed.
Moreover, he maintained that it is inadvisable to simultaneously hold a plebiscite on the constitution amendment with regular elections because it will confuse the people.
"The issues of the election should not be mixed with Charter change. If changes in the Constitution are needed, let the changes come after, not during or before the elections and let the process be done pursuant to the Constitution," Pimentel said.
The minority leader said it is extremely doubtful whether there is enough time for the government-led initiative to gather the required 6.3 million signatures, to pursue the petition with Comelec and to hurdle the expected oppositors' petition with SC within the remaining four and a half months before election day.
Pimentel warned Charter change advocates against resorting to some hocus-pocus to shortcut the process by recycling the signatures that they collected for the first people's initiative petition.
He said the signatures obtained for the first petition (for the shift to a unicameral parliamentary system) could not be validly used in the second petition (for transforming bicameral Congress into a unicameral assembly) because the two petitions dealt with entirely different amendment proposals.
Pimentel also said it would be preposterous to ask the people in a plebiscite whether they favor the abolition of the Senate and House of Representatives and the creation of a unicameral legislature while in the process of exercising their right to vote for candidates for senators and congressmen.
Pimentel said the second people's initiative smacks of the desperation of President Arroyo and her allies to exploit Charter change to ensure their political survival in the face of clear indications that administration candidates are headed for defeat in the coming elections. (Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (January 7, 2007 issue)
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