Comelec cannot conduct Cha-cha plebiscite this year – poll chief

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections cannot conduct a plebiscite for the amendment of the 1987 Constitution this year, according to Comelec Chairman George Garcia.

However, the Comelec would abide by whatever Congress prescribes, Garcia told the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation chaired by Sen. Imee Marcos at a hearing yesterday.

“In the event that Congress will say (the plebiscite and 2025 elections should be) separate, we cannot conduct the plebiscite in 2024, definitely,” Garcia said.

Marcos asked Garcia about the apparently flip-flopping pronouncement on simultaneously conducting the plebiscite for Charter change (Cha-cha) and midterm elections, which is slated for May 12, 2025.

Garcia said that when he was quoted about holding a plebiscite, it was his “personal opinion.”

He added that as far as he is concerned, he “honestly believes” that the plebiscite and the midterm elections “should be done separately,” Garcia said.

“However, I likewise corrected myself and said that it’s up to Congress. We will definitely follow what Congress will say,” he said.

He added that if Congress would say the Comelec would have to conduct the plebiscite and the midterm elections simultaneously, the poll body is committed to do it.

In holding the plebiscite and midterm elections simultaneously, the Comelec chief said that the country could save P13 billion.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said he “filed Senate Bill 2595, An Act Providing for a System of People’s Initiative and Referendum, since the spirit of the law providing plebiscite to ratify amendment to the Constitution must be called for that purpose.”

“With all due respect, my apology, it’s not the commission that flip-flopped; it’s the chair, (who) says, my initial impression was really the plebiscite should be done separately from the midterm elections because the people should be made aware of what is being changed. However it’s up to Congress. If Congress says simultaneous, then the Comelec will implement,” Garcia said.

Under the proposed measure, Pimentel asserted that the right of the people to directly amend the Constitution could not be exercised unless Congress provides for its implementation through a pertinent law.

“Constitution speaks of the power of the people to propose amendments to the Constitution directly through the system of initiative, upon a petition of at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three percent of the total number of registered voters therein. The provision, however, is not self-executory,” he said.

He added that Congress passed Republic Act (RA) 6735, or as the Initiative and Referendum Act on Aug. 4, 1989, but the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the law shall only pertain to initiative and referendum on national and local laws, ordinances and resolutions.

Pimentel noted that the SC found that RA 6735 is inadequate to cover the system of initiative on amendments to the Constitution and fails to provide sufficient standards for subordinate legislation on the part of the Comelec.

“As a measure to not only fill in the gaps found in RA 6735, but to also update the system of the people’s initiative and referendum to reflect present-day political conditions, it is proper that this bill be introduced as a new measure, rather than an amendment to the existing law,” he said.

He added that the proposed measure introduces penal provisions against the commission of prohibited acts connected to the conduct of initiative and referendum.

“Making reference to the punishable acts of the Omnibus Election Code and other election laws, this measure ensures the sanctity of direct democracy just as our election laws ensure the sanctity of the ballot,” he said.

‘Dribble politics’

No to “dribble politics,” please.

This was the overarching message officials and members of the House of Representatives as they cautioned their counterparts in the Senate as regards the economic Charter change, whose passage is moving much slower in the Upper Chamber compared to that in the House.

“I really hope and I have faith in the Senate – they are an independent institution. But I really hope that this is not dribble-dribble politics. At the very least, the Filipino voters deserve to know how our senators stand,” Lanao del Norte 1st District Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo told reporters at a briefing.

Dimaporo, who chairs the House committee on Muslim affairs, laid out the timeline by which the Senate’s Resolution of Both Houses 6, along with the House’s RBH 7, should be adopted at the soonest time possible, lest these be overtaken by expected turn of events this year.

“We hope it’s not busy-busy kami, we need to know where Sen. Bato (dela Rosa) stands when it comes to the issue of opening up, how RBH 6 will negatively affect our nationalist ideals,” he said.

The senior administration lawmaker was referring to President Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, where hearings about the proposed 2025 national budget and the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) by October for next year’s midterm elections will commence shortly after.

“Come October, we’ll be filing for our COCs, so we really only have until the SONA to get all of these done as legislators. After the SONA, the circus is in town again and we will be campaigning. The urgency is there. We only have one month of work to do,” Dimaporo said.

House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin also expressed her apprehensions, hoping that senators will still find time to deliberate and approve RBH 6.

Garin said a people’s initiative might be the better option if the Senate fails to approve economic Cha-cha. — Delon Porcalla