Comelec: No jurisdiction yet on People’s Initiative for Cha-cha

Comelec chair George Garcia (File Photo: COMELEC/Facebook)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said the supposed proposal for Charter change (Cha-cha) through People’s Initiative (PI) is not yet within its jurisdiction.

In a radio interview, Comelec chairman George Garcia said it has yet to receive a petition on the matter.

“Amin po ‘yung jurisdiction kapag ‘yan po ay na-file sa amin. Aatasan ang local Comelec na i-verify isa-isa ‘yung mga pangalan, mga signatures form na nakalakip sa petition. Ang ating local Comelec sa buong bansa ang mag-certify kung ilan ‘yung nakuha na pirma o lagda doon sa bawat area o jurisdiction nila (We will only have jurisdiction on that once that is filed before us. We will then order all local Comelec offices to verify the names one by one and the signature forms included in the petition. Our local Comelec offices across the country would certify how many signatures were obtained in their areas of jurisdiction),” Garcia said.

He said they would follow Comelec Resolution 10650 which mandates the rules on utilizing the PI method.

“Wala pa pong jurisdiction ang Comelec sa ganyan pagkakataon sapagkat ang jurisdiction papasok lamang kapag nagkaroon ng tinatawag na election period. Halimbawa, magiging successful ‘yang pina-file ay kami ay magsasabi na nakuha ang sufficient na bilang, kami po ay mag-schedule ng plebisito. Doon papasok ang kapangyarihan namin kapag nagkaroon ng tinawag na election period (The Comelec still has no jurisdiction on that because jurisdiction will only be applied if there is already an election period. For instance, the petition was successful, we would say that there is a sufficient number of signatures, we will then schedule a plebiscite. That is the only time we can have jurisdiction on that, once an election period is determined),” he said, when asked if the gathering of signatures can be considered vote buying.

Earlier, Garcia belied claims that the PHP12 billion additional budget given to the agency is meant to fund Cha-cha.

Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman alleged that the allocation was inserted by the bicameral conference committee under the budget of the Commission for 2024.

Some local government officials have also allegedly asked their constituents to sign the PI petition in exchange for financial aid.