The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Mandaue City confirmed yesterday on receiving people’s initiative (PI) sheets with roughly 35,000 signatures to amend the 1986 Constitution.

Comelec Mandaue Election Officer Anna Fleur Gujilde told the media that they received the forms last week.

She said her office would recount the signatures before issuing a certification to the Comelec en banc regarding the total number of signatures submitted.

Once the Comelec en banc issues an order for verification, the local Comelec office will start to verify the signatures to determine if they were indeed from active registered voters in the city.

Gujilde explained that the form must also contain the specific constitutional changes the signatory wants to amend, which the received PI sheets failed to provide.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes in an interview said charter change (cha-cha) is timely for better governance, but the campaign must be well-explained to the general public.

He cited the economic reforms that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wanted to implement but needed constitutional amendments.

People’s initiative refers to a mode for constitutional amendment provided by the 1987 Philippine Constitution or the act of pushing a national or local initiative allowed by the Philippine Initiative and Referendum Act of 1987 as gathering public votes through a mass signature campaign.

Gujilde further narrated that for the PI’s effectiveness, the campaign should gather the signatures of at least 12 percent of the country’s total voting population, which translates to three percent signatures per legislative district nationwide.

There are 236,668 registered voters in Mandaue City during the last October Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

Gujilde said that based on that figure, there have to be 3,000 valid signatures in Mandaue City.

Comelec -7 regional director, Atty. Marco Lionel Castillano, in an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE, revealed that in Central Visayas, it’s Negros Oriental and Cebu that the PI signatures were submitted to the Comelec offices.

“Bohol and Siquijor have not submitted yet including the 3rd district of Negros Oriental. The 1st and 3rd districts of Cebu Province have not yet submitted,” Castillano said.

While Cebu City’s north and south legislative districts have already submitted signatures. and Lapu-Lapu City’s lone congressional district has no submission yet, according to Castillano.

Recently, Senator Imee Marcos alleged that legislative districts nationwide were given P20 million to buy voter’s signatures.

She revealed that the money is being released through various government programs, particularly cash aid distributions.

Albay Representative Excel Lagman claimed Albay mayors were allegedly gathered in a meeting last 5 January and had been given PI forms and mobilization funds to distribute to their constituents.