Comelec reopens signature filing for people’s initiative

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is once again accepting signature sheets for the holding of a people’s initiative to enact national or local laws after it was suspended in 2024.

The acceptance of petitions for amendments to the Constitution, however, remains suspended.

“If there are people who wish to have a people’s initiative on what laws should be passed on the national or maybe the local level, we will accept it. [However,] we are not encouraging it,” Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia said in an ambush interview on Wednesday.

“In the meantime, we will still not accept any kind of petition, or signature for verification, or signature petitions, with regards to the people’s initiative on the Constitution,” he said. “The reason is that the Commission believes that there is still an intense legal issue when it comes to whether such law is really allowed, the Republic Act No. 6735.”

READ: Comelec halts people’s initiative proceedings on Charter change

Under Comelec Resolution No. 10650, any registered voter or group of voters may file a petition for an initiative or referendum to “propose, enact, approve or reject, in whole or in part, the Constitution, laws, ordinances or resolutions passed by any legislative body.”

A petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of the total number of registered voters nationwide and at least 3 percent of registered voters in every legislative district before the proposed amendment can be ratified through a plebiscite.

The resolution, promulgated in January 2020, serves as the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 6735 or the Initiative and Referendum Act.

In January 2024, the Comelec temporarily suspended the implementation of Resolution 10650 and halted the acceptance of signature sheets in all of its local offices.

At that time, Garcia said there was a need to “review, enhance, and put additional provisions in our implementing rules and regulations concerning the people’s initiative” to avoid confusion and misinterpretation of the law.

READ: Charter change bid signatures may be voided if ‘funded’

But in a resolution released on Wednesday, the Comelec en banc adopted the recommendation of Executive Director Teopisto Elnas Jr. to partially lift the suspension of Resolution 10650.

Elnas said that “various organizations” had sent a letter to the Comelec, arguing that “initiatives to enact or amend national or local legislations were not declared unconstitutional” by the Supreme Court in its decision on Santiago vs Comelec.

“Since their unconstitutionality were not in issue, it is their understanding that Comelec Resolution No. 10650 remains valid and effective for initiatives to enact or amend national or local legislation,” Elnas said in a memorandum. /jpv