Imee: Trash PI forms, no questions asked
The Commission on Elections should discard all signatures gathered for the People’s Initiative, or PI, instead of producing forms for those who are withdrawing their support for it, Senator Imee Marcos said on Sunday.
Marcos issued the call to the Comelec when asked about the form, which would ask signatories why they were withdrawing support for the PI intended to form a Constituent Assembly, or ConAss, to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Said to be initiated by the House of Representatives, the PI pushed a ConAss that would have had House members and senators being constituted and voting as one body, thereby diluting the voting power of the Senate.
The PI, allegedly a brainchild of Speaker Martin Romualdez, was also marred by claimed signature-buying through cash dole-outs or assistance from government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Romualdez has denied masterminding or funding the PI, while the DSWD also dashed accusations its programs had been used as enticements to those voting in favor of the PI.
Senator Marcos stressed that the withdrawal forms released by the Comelec should not be a burden for those who wanted to retract their support for the petition.
“Why are they making it difficult? When you signed it, you were not asked for your reason to do so. Why are they now being asked to explain? I do not understand,” she said.
“Maybe we should just toss it all away. They should just reject all the gathered signatures for good,” she added.
The lawmaker noted that she’s not against the Charter change, especially the amendments to the economic provisions, as long as everything is done by the book, without irregularities.
“There should be no bribery involved. It is an insult to Filipinos,” she said, adding that those who signed the petition should have really understood what they were signing.
“Those of us who attended school were unable to comprehend it. Yet, they did so in English as well... It was really insulting; they took away their honor. They took advantage of them,” she added.
Romualdez has denied masterminding or funding the PI, while the DSWD also dashed accusations its programs had been used as enticements to those voting in favor of the PI.
Last week, the Comelec released withdrawal forms at its local offices after Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa pointed out that some individuals who signed the petition have expressed their intent to withdraw their support.
“For purposes of recording such manifestations, the Commission hereby releases the Withdrawal Form of Signature in Signature Sheets/Petition for People’s Initiative,” the poll body’s statement read.
To recall, the Comelec en banc halted all the proceedings related to the people’s initiative, including the poll body’s acceptance of signatures in their local offices.
“Perhaps we should just finish the discussion by throwing away all the signatures they accepted because we all know that they were illegally obtained. The process of getting signatures was also unconstitutional. They also used money to lure people into signing it. There was bribery, among others,” Senator Marcos said.
The senator’s brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and her cousin, Romualdez, maintained the need to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution to entice more foreign investments into the country.
However, cha-cha critics have averred that the true intention behind the move may be to extend the term of those in power.
Senator Marcos has been at loggerheads with Romualdez, saying she wants her brother’s administration to succeed so as not to waste the redemption of the Marcoses’ family name.