Cha-cha via people's initiative: How it works and why it's not as easy as it seems

"People's initiative" has become a household phrase in the past couple of weeks in light of the reported signature campaign for tweaking the 1987 Constitution by allowing all members of Congress to jointly vote on the proposed amendments.

The signature campaign — which specifically asks voters if they are in favor of amending Article 17 Section 1 of the Constitution by allowing all members of Congress to jointly vote on proposed constitutional amendments — falls under the people's initiative provision of the Constitution, which states that amendments can be directly proposed by the people "through initiative upon a petition of at least 12% of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least 3% of the registered voters therein."

GMA News Online lists down the steps in the process of Charter change (Cha-cha) via people's initiative, including the requirements for its success — or even failure.

1. Securing the signatures

As stated, the petition in favor of any constitutional amendment would need to be signed by 12% of the total number of registered voters in the preceding election, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least 3% of the registered voters therein.  The provision is stated both under the Constitution and Commission on Elections' (Comelec) January 2020 Resolution 10650 on rules and regulations governing people’s initiative for Charter change.

According to Dr. Julio Teehankee, Professor of Political Science and International Studies in De La Salle University, such figures might look easy on paper but very hard to execute as one opposing district could void the rest of the signatures in all other places.

"People's initiative is straightforward. 12% of the national voters and 3% each legislative district. On paper, it is very easy. In reality, napakahirap niyan (it's very difficult)," he told GMA News Online.

"Isang distrito lang ang hindi mo makuha (if you fail to get even one district), the initiative becomes null and void," added Teehankee, who also chairs the pro-democracy coalition Participate PH, which seeks to engage and empower the political participation of the Filipino people.

"Madaling barilin 'yan (that can be shot down easily)."

2. Filing the petition

Once the petitioners, in this case the people, are able to get enough signatures, they would need to file the petition for their proposed constitutional amendments before the Comelec.

3. Comelec determines if the petition is sufficient in form

4. Signature verification

If the Comelec finds the petition sufficient in form, it will start verification of signatures

Teehankee sees the verification of signatures as another significant hurdle for the petitioners.

"Verification entails a lot of logistical concerns. How do you really verify the signature, and how sure are we na naiintindihan nung mga pumipirma iyong pinapapirma sa kanila (that those who signed understood what they signed for)?" Teehankee asked.

Section 16 of Comelec Resolution 10650 states that expenses relative to the signature gathering and verification should be solely borne by the proponent/s or petitioners and should not be funded from public sources.

5. Setting the national referendum

If the Comelec is able to verify that the signatures are authentic, it will schedule a national plebiscite or referendum wherein the people will vote on the petitioners’ proposed constitutional amendments.

The date of the plebiscite should not be earlier than 60 days but not later than 90 days from the determination of the sufficiency of the petition, meaning sufficiency of verified signatures, as provided under Section 20 of Comelec Resolution 10650.

The same Comelec resolution states that a special ballot will be used for the plebiscite that will contain the following: the title of the petition, the proposition in clear and concise language, and a question to  ascertain the voter's approval or disapproval of the proposition.

6. Majority vote wins

Once the people's petition to amend the Constitution is ratified by a majority of the votes cast in the plebiscite, the amendment takes effect as of the date of the plebiscite as provided under Comelec Resolution 10650.

If the majority vote is not obtained, the proposed amendment is disapproved.

Third time's a charm? 

Prior to the recent reported signature campaign, there have been at least two attempts to amend the Constitution via people's initiative -- one during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos and another during the term Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo -- mainly to change the system of government from presidential to parliamentary form.

Both initiatives, however, were rejected by the Supreme Court because of the lack of executory law in use of people’s initiative to amend the Constitution (Santiago v. Comelec) and the incomplete petition signed by the petitioners which did not state, which provisions of the Constitution should be amended (Lambino v. Comelec).

But Teehankee noted that the people’s initiative floated under the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is unique because it does not directly ask the voter if he or she is in favor of amending the Constitution.

Instead, the document being circulated for the signature campaign asks the voter if he or she in favor of allowing members of Congress to jointly vote on proposed constitutional amendments.

Teehankee pointed out that the constitutional provision of amending the Constitution via Constitutional Assembly or Article 17 Section 1 does not explicitly state on whether the bicameral Congress should vote jointly or separately on proposed constitutional provisions.

"This time, it is different because the public is being asked if they want the House to amend the Constitution alone. It is not directly asking if you want to amend the Constitution but asking if you are in favor of a certain process to amend it," Teehankee said. 

"If this petition succeeds and they will vote jointly, malulusaw iyong [boto ng] 24 senators sa 300 members of the House (the votes of the 24 senators will be obscured by the votes of the 300 House members)," he added.

"They are working on that ambiguity [in the Constitution] which does not state voting separately or jointly], and politically, that is a brilliant way of doing it. By the law of averages, baka makalusot na (this might succeed)," Teehankee further said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News