President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is leaving it up to the Commission on Elections to examine the signatures for the People's Initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution for now.

In an interview at the Lung Center of the Philippines on Tuesday, the President said that it is necessary for the poll body to first validate the signatures, especially since it is surrounded by issues.

"We just have to let the Comelec do their job, validate the signatures, and if there is suspicion of such activities, those signatures will not be counted," Marcos said.

Marcos also refuted the reports where several individuals allegedly received payment of P100 in return for signing a petition for a people's initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.

The Chief Executive, as far as he knew, said there haven't been confirmed instances of purchased signatures yet.

"To my knowledge, there is no such thing. What is being mentioned is not a payment in cash but rather promises of various benefits," Marcos said.

Marcos also mentioned that he asked the legislative body regarding the signature purchasing scheme. He even considered temporarily suspending the distribution of benefits to thwart this.

However, he withdrew this idea due to the anticipation of many individuals who are waiting to benefit from the programs purportedly linked to securing signatures.

"I asked everyone, especially in our legislature, 'Is that true?' Our releases have not changed; they are still constant," Marcos said.

"So I said the other thing is, to avoid suspicion, let's temporarily halt the release of benefits. However, that wouldn't be good either because there are really people in need," Marcos added.

Former President Duterte's stance on PI

Meanwhile, Marcos' predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte said he is not in favor of pushing Charter change through People's Initiative.

In an online interview aired on Facebook, Duterte said that a "new constitution" arising from the people's initiative could "potentially harm the nation" and "allow for widespread political abuses."

He added that accepting bribes to gain signatures for cha-cha is "repugnant" and "disgraceful."

"I am not in favor of such a move. So if that's the case, they should just stop. It does not only leave a bad taste in the mouth, actually, it's almost, how should I term it, repugnant, a disgraceful act," Duterte said.

Several senators, including Imee Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, have also criticized the purported signature drive for the people's initiative.