{"id":171904,"date":"2018-07-18T21:57:44","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T01:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=171904"},"modified":"2018-07-18T21:57:44","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T01:57:44","slug":"deferring-2019-polls-via-peoples-initiative-tedious-unacceptable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/07\/18\/deferring-2019-polls-via-peoples-initiative-tedious-unacceptable\/","title":{"rendered":"Deferring 2019 polls via ‘People’s Initiative’ tedious, unacceptable"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Besides,<\/a>
Besides, the Senate leader said going through a plebiscite at this point to amend the Charter is not probably the best idea. (Photo: Senato of the Philippines\/ Facebook)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Several senators on Wednesday opposed proposals to postpone the May 2019 elections through a People\u2019s Initiative, stressing separately that the process is quite tedious, a waste of resources and bound to fail.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier suggested postponing the midterm polls so that Congress can continue working to finalize the draft of the proposed federal constitution.<\/p>\n

He said while the Constitution requires the conduct of elections every three years, the May 2019 elections could still be canceled either through legislation or an amendment of the Constitution through a People’s Initiative.<\/p>\n

The Speaker said if the Senate would not agree to postpone the elections, citizens who support federalism can start a People’s Initiative to amend the said constitutional provision.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said while he respects the Speaker\u2019s decision, he is against deferring the midterm polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not in favor of postponing the elections. Let\u2019s make that loud and clear,\u201d Zubiri said during a press briefing at the Senate.<\/p>\n

He also insinuated that the proposal to defer the elections via People\u2019s Initiative is easier said than done.<\/p>\n

\u201cDadaan pa ito sa matagal na proseso<\/em>\u00a0(It will go through a tedious process).\u00a0Dadaan pa yan sa<\/em>\u00a0(It will still have to go through a) plebiscite if they approve of such amendment,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Besides, the Senate leader said going through a plebiscite at this point to amend the Charter is not probably the best idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of now, with the public\u2019s approval rating on amendments to the Charter at its low of 30 percent and 67 against charter change,\u00a0baka sa<\/em>\u00a0plebiscite\u00a0na yan mahirapan yan<\/em>\u00a0amendment\u00a0na yan na i-<\/em>postpone\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a02019 elections (the amendment to postpone the 2019 elections may not pass the plebiscite),\u201d Zubiri said.<\/p>\n

Act of Congress<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson reminded Alvarez that any mode to amend the Constitution, including People\u2019s initiative, needs Senate participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership of the House should be reminded of the provision on people’s initiative as an alternative mode of revising or amending the Charter,\u201d he said in a text message to reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly, nothing escapes the Senate participation. Thus, aside from Sec 1 under Art XVII which provides for Con-ass (Constitutional Assembly) and Con-con (Constitutional Convention), Section 2, particularly paragraph 2, which allows the direct participation of the people shall likewise need the Senate to implement the same,\u201d Lacson pointed out.<\/p>\n

The provision in the Constitution states that \u201cAmendments to this Constitution may likewise be directly proposed by the people through initiative upon a petition of at least twelve per centum of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per centum of the registered voters therein.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo amendment under this section shall be authorized within five years following the ratification of this Constitution nor oftener than once every five years thereafter. The Congress shall provide for the implementation of the exercise of this right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing could be clearer. It goes without saying, majority of the senators, even those running for re-election will fight tooth and nail any attempt to cancel the 2019 midterm elections simply because it is wrong and self-serving,\u201d Lacson said.<\/p>\n

For Senator Francis Escudero, a People\u2019s Initiative, even if allowed to proceed, would run out of time to effect the desired outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s totally up to him (Alvarez). But I don\u2019t think it can be done before the 2019 elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Citing the same constitutional provision, the lawmaker added that the Commission on Elections still has to verify all signatures before it can order\/schedule the referendum which, in turn, can be questioned before the Courts by any interested party if it is indeed sufficient in form and substance.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite frankly, I don\u2019t know why he seems so obsessed with postponing the election when neither the people nor the Palace supports such postponement,\u201d Escudero said.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said Alvarez must thoroughly consider his proposal since the law on implementing a People\u2019s Initiative is still quite ambiguous.<\/p>\n

\u201cPag isipan n\u2019ya yan ng mabuti<\/em>\u00a0(He should think it over). That\u2019s too cumbersome a procedure hence time consuming, plus the question if a law is in place which sufficiently implements people’s initiative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former Senate President, however, admitted that Alvarez \u201cis the proper person to lead such an initiative because the procedure involves all the legislative districts of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waste of resources, divisive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the proposed People\u2019s Initiative \u201cis just a waste of resources\u201d that might also prove to be \u201cdivisive\u201d in the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe electoral process is a fundamental tenet of democracy. It’s the period when the electorate is empowered to choose their own leader who they think best represent their beliefs and ideologies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people’s initiative to postpone the 2019 elections will just be a waste of resources and it will also further divide the country into deeper political abyss,\u201d Gatchalian said.<\/p>\n

Senator Grace Poe also said the process is tedious and was proven to be unsuccessful in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was tried in the past under GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) but it was unsuccessful. It is a lengthy and tedious process. The Speaker should not try any shortcuts and tricks if he believes the proposed charter is judicious and a true solution to the needs of our people,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

The reactions of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Senator Francis Pangilinan were more direct.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Alvarez) can. But then it’s not a real people’s initiative but a Speaker\u2019s initiative or political elite initiative,\u201d Recto said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government funds spent for a people’s initiative and plebiscite to extend the terms of sitting politicians can be put to better use,\u201d Pangilinan said.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Several senators on Wednesday opposed proposals to postpone the May 2019 elections through a People\u2019s Initiative, stressing separately that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":100592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[15123,52996,16278],"class_list":["post-171904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-house-speaker-pantaleon-alvarez","tag-senate-majority-leader-juan-miguel-zubiri","tag-senator-panfilo-lacson","mauthors-jose-cielito-reganit","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}