Senator Imee Marcos on Thursday, February 1 emphasized the need to first establish a legal framework through legislation before pushing forward with a People’s Initiative (PI) to amend the 1987 Constitution.
“Why don’t we first make a law? Let’s hammer together, craft, debate until we get a law, and thereafter produce this People’s Initiative that is properly done?” Marcos said in an interview over ANC Headstart.
Marcos, head of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, noted the absence of a specific law governing PI.
But the senator said this issue would be addressed when Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 (RBH No. 6), which aims to amend the “restrictive economic provisions” of the 1987 Constitution, would be tackled next week.
“There was an agreement early in January that a subcommittee in the Senate will be established and we will do it properly because firstly the Santiago case of the Supreme Court (SC) said very clearly, wala pang batas para sa (there is still no law for the) PI,” Marcos said.
“Kabisado na natin ‘yung Con-con, ‘yung Con-ass pero yung people’s initiative hindi pa natin nagagawa sa buong kasaysayan ng Pilipinas (we are already well-versed with the Constitutional convention, and constituent assembly, but the People’s Initiative has never been done in the history of the Philippines),” she pointed out explaining the three modes of amending the Charter.
In its decision on Santiago v. Commission on Elections, the SC declared that there is no executory law for People’s Initiatve for Charter change, citing inadequacy in Republic Act 6736 or The Initiative and Referendum Act.
“They said the existing laws were inadequate, and that, therefore, we have to make a law,” the President’s sister stressed.
She said crafting a law that would delineate the method, process, guidelines, and safeguards for a successful people’s initiative would be the way to go, foreseeing a People’s Initiative that engages in consultation with the public and addressing pertinent issues, particularly concerns about the cost of living.
“I was chairman of (the Senate) economic affairs for a while, and for the entire duration, I never heard the Constitution mentioned among the foreign investors,” she pointed out.
“Ang lagi nilang nire reklamo (what they continually complain about) was the infrastructure, the extremely high cost of electricity, the endless red tape and the insecure and unreliable regulatory framework,” Marcos lamented.
“So a change in the Constitution will not be a silver bullet and magically bring or draw foreign investors here. What would change immediately would be in fact, exactly what they said, infrastructure, electricity, shipping costs, red tape and too much bureaucracy, uncertainty—all of that need to be addressed as well,” she reiterated.
Last Tuesday, Marcos’ panel started its inquiry into allegations of bribery, deception, and other illegal activities associated with the ongoing people’s initiative.
During the hearing, testimonies and evidence emerged implicating House Speaker Martin Romualdez and other members of the House of Representatives as being involved in the PI signature campaign.
Next week, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is expected to lead the Senate subcommittee that will deliberate on RBH No. 6.