Senate urged: Let Comelec decide

Stop interfering and leave the fate of the contentious People’s Initiative to the discretion of the Commission on Elections, or Comelec, members of the House of Representatives urged the Senate yesterday.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong and 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez issued the call amid the ongoing Senate probe into allegations of bribery in the nationwide PI signature-gathering campaign.

The Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, chaired by Senator Imee Marcos, kicked off its inquiry into alleged anomalies linked to the PI, such as the signature-buying drive in late January.

Adiong and Gutierrez deemed the Senate probe a “witch hunt,” which is “obviously directed at the House.”

“The Senate has had three hearings but there has been no witness who said they were paid to sign the petition. The senators’ witnesses themselves admitted that they did not receive any bribes in this process,” Adiong said.

The Senate, according to Gutierrez, should stop meddling in the PI process and let the Comelec perform the functions vested in it by law.

“The Comelec has the mandate in the PI process. Not the Senate, not the House of Representatives. That’s why it’s called a People’s Initiative. They (the people) are the ones who came up with it and are leading the way to change the Constitution. It should not be led by Congress,” Gutierrez said.

Adiong echoed Gutierrez’s appeal, saying it would be best to leave the investigation into the PI to the Comelec as it is the proper agency to handle any questions regarding the process.

“The poll agency is mandated to verify the signatures, as prescribed in the Constitution itself,” Adiong said.

Members of the House slammed the Senate probe, notwithstanding a Comelec directive to halt the PI process.

Withdrawal forms accepted

Earlier last week, the Comelec announced it would start accepting signature withdrawal forms “with or without a reason” from those wishing to retract their names from the petitions.

The House and the Senate have been locked in a verbal joust over the latter’s reluctance to make Charter change happen through a PI, which senators alleged was being shepherded by leaders of the House.

Senators believe the PI is marred by irregularities and is facilitated through bribes or monetary incentives drawn from social programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development to convince individuals to sign the petitions.

Marcos tagged Speaker Martin Romualdez, her cousin, as being behind the PI campaign, alleging that P20 million per district was allocated for the signature campaign.

The Speaker, however, has repeatedly denied having a hand in it.

Critics of Charter change, or cha-cha, including former president Rodrigo Duterte, have criticized the efforts to amend the Constitution, alleging that the move was a veiled effort by politicians, including his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to extend their terms.

Duterte then said would he start a move to separate Mindanao from the country if Marcos insisted on amending the 1987 Constitution.

House cha-cha proponents, however, allayed such fears, insisting that the goal is to relax the restrictive economic restrictions in the Basic Law.