Lawyer leads signature withdrawal campaign in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY: Bacolod City lawyer Cesar Beloria Jr. is leading an initiative to collect the signatures of those who want to withdraw their signatures from a petition supporting amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

Beloria said on Monday, January 22, that the move is in response to the call of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia.

Last week, Garcia said that people who had signed a petition for a people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution could still withdraw their signatures if they did not fully understand the significance of the planned Charter change (Cha-cha).

Beloria said he has received inquiries from the public asking if they can still withdraw their signature from the Chacha petition.

“This is my own initiative and no one is behind me,” he said.

He added that some people who have signed the petition admitted that they do not understand what they have signed and now they want it withdrawn.

“We have no actual targets how many signatures but only those who are willing to withdraw their signatures from the petition,” the lawyer clarified.

He said there is something wrong with the process and he doubted the authenticity and validity of the signature campaign, especially in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

“We will have volunteers going around the different barangay who will carry the forms for people to sign so they can withdraw their signatures,” the lawyer said.

Beloria said some people were made to believe that their signatures were in exchange for programs of the government or that somebody influenced them.

“Others said they were told that their signature will mean the continuity of their financial assistance from the government while some were forced to sign as their parents are working in a barangay in Bacolod,” he said.

He added that the Department of the Interior and Local Government should investigate reports that the signature campaign supporting Cha-cha is spearheaded by barangay officials.

“After we finish gathering signatures of those who want to withdraw their signatures, we will submit it to the Comelec,” Beloria said.

As of January 23, a total of 211,741 signatures from 16 local governments in Negros Occidental have been submitted to the provincial office of the Comelec, records show.

Of the 31 towns and cities in the province, the local governments that have not yet submitted signatures are Don Salvador

Benedicto, Toboso, Cadiz City, Pulupandan, San Enrique Valladolid, Binalbagan, Himamaylan, Hinigaran and Isabela.

People who have signed a document circulating the country purporting to back the initiative may still recall their signatures by making a manifestation of withdrawal at local Comelec offices, Garcia said.

“There is nothing that prevents anyone from stating that he did not understand what he signed so he is withdrawing his signature,” he said.

The local Comelec office will take note of signature withdrawals or manifestations that a voter’s signature had been faked, Garcia said, adding that the poll body had the right to remove the names of those who signed the petition in either instance.

Lawyer Ian Lee Ananoria, provincial election supervisor, said it is their prerogative if they withdraw their signatures.

“We have not yet verified their signatures so it’s premature for me to say it’s their signature,” Ananoria said.

“Once they file a petition for Charter change with the en banc, then we will be ordered to verify the signatures they submitted,” he added.

“As of now, we don’t have anything to do with their signature campaign until a petition has been filed,” said Ananoria.