Comelec disregards Cha-cha ‘timelines’
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Garcia on Friday said the poll body will not be bound by any timeline set by proponents of the ongoing people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.
“We can’t be tied up to any timeline or with any group or person. The Comelec will have its own timeline in accordance with our existing policies and laws,” Garcia told reporters.
The Comelec chief said he had read about timelines for the initiative on social media and wondered what their bases were considering that nobody has yet filed a formal initiative petition in the poll body.
“Everything will start—the trigger will start—when someone already files a petition here in Comelec,” he said.
Garcia said timetables for a June or July plebiscite seemed to him “very near” considering that the Comelec would still have to verify the signatures that have been submitted for the initiative.
“At this point, the plebiscite that they’re saying would be held in June is a bit doubtful. Maybe if they had submitted [their petition] as early as first week of January, they could have pursued [their timetable] but we’re in the third week of January already,” he added.
According to rules, the signatures must be verified within 60 days after the Comelec en banc finds that the initiative petition was sufficient in form. Garcia said verification would take longer in legislative districts where the percentage of registered voters who signed is higher than the minimum 3 percent set by the Charter.
Still a long process
After the petition is approved and all appeals resolved, and unless the are no restraining orders from the court, the Comelec must set the plebiscite within 60 to 90 days.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, Garcia said election offices in 674 municipalities and cities nationwide have received signature sheets for the supposed people’s initiative.
Meanwhile, Garcia said once the Comelec entertains the initiative petition and begins verifying the signatures of the initiative supporters, the poll body might have to suspend its activities related to the resumption of voter’s registration on Feb. 12.
“We hope we can do it simultaneously. However, we will really have to sacrifice one in favor of another,” Garcia said.
He noted that the Comelec doesn’t have enough personnel to manage verification and registration at the same time, adding that the poll body has been planning to set up satellite registration venues nationwide for its “register anywhere” drive.
Asked about the funds for the plebiscite, Garcia said the Comelec will ask the budget department to source them from the poll body’s additional P12 billion budget allotted this year for regular operations. Garcia said that the P12 billion is also being eyed to fund the overtime pay of personnel in next year’s elections and the purchase of election paraphernalia.
Purchased signatures
Also on Friday, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte broke her silence to slam the signature campaign being mobilized to push for the amendment of the Constitution, describing it as a “painful reminder” of the country’s failure to pin down solutions to institutional problems.
In a statement on Friday, Duterte acknowledged the ongoing efforts, including in her hometown Davao City, to revive the bid for Charter change (Cha-cha), the campaign of which she dubbed as “pera kapalit ng pirma para sa people’s initiative.”
“It mirrors the indifference politicians have on the true state of the ordinary Filipinos,” she lamented.
Worse, Duterte noted, the latest push for Cha-cha through a people’s initiative “is a reflection of politicians’ habit to buy votes every election.”
“This is an affront to the dignity of the common Filipinos,” she said. INQ
