Imee Marcos says no surprise Romualdez being linked to Cha-cha signature campaign

Senator Imee Marcos over the weekend said it is no surprise that the ongoing people’s initiative on Charter change is being connected to her cousin, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, as his staff has been connected to the signature campaign.

In an interview with Super Radyo dzBB, Marcos said while there have been no statements from Romualdez indicating his involvement in the people’s initiative, names and mobile numbers have been connected to his staff.

“Ang problema, lahat ng staff, ‘yung mga pangalan na nagte-text sa mga tao, tapos ‘yung mga numbers ay mga staff ng speaker, so hindi mo masisisi ‘yung tao na siya ‘yung tinutumbok,” she said.

(The problem is the staff, the names and the numbers that send out messages are the staff of the speaker, so you can’t blame people linking him.)

To recall, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez last year said 2024 is the right time to push for Charter change, and said he was keen on launching a people’s referendum to determine how Congress should vote on proposals amending the Constitution.

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro has called for a probe on the ongoing signature campaign, citing instances of supposed signature buying as these were reportedly done alongside the distribution of government aid and gifts

For her part, Marcos last week already filed a resolution seeking a Senate review on the efficacy of Republic Act 6735, a law providing for a system of initiative and referendum amid reported efforts to gather signatures to push for an amendment to the 1987 Constitution.

She also cited reports of efforts to buy signatures in favor of the campaign, ranging from P100 to as much as P1,000, along with supposed proposals for social protection funds in exchange for signatures.

In the same interview, Marcos hinted that there may be some people taking advantage of her brother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who earlier said amendments to the 1987 Constitution should focus on attracting more investors into the country.

“Mukhang surprise gift daw para sa SONA (State of the Nation Address). E di surprise, talagang lahat tayo na-surprise sa PI (people’s initiative), PI na ‘yan. Nakakanerbyos naman,” the senator said on Sunday.

(It looks like it will be a surprise gift for the SONA. So all of us are really surprised with this PI. It makes me nervous.)

“Hindi ko alam kung alam niya (President Marcos) o hindi. Pero dapat alam niya ‘no, kasi dapat alam mo lahat. Kaya lang ‘yun nga, magdahan-dahan sila. Sinasamantala nila ‘yung mabait. Aba eh ‘pag nagalit ang mabait, magdahan-dahan kayo. Mataray din ‘yan,” she added.

(I don’t know if he [President Marcos] knows it or not, but he should because he should know everything. The thing is, they should tread carefully. They are taking advantage of his kindness. When someone kind gets mad, be careful. He also has a temper.) —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/RF/KG, GMA Integrated News