Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III appealed to President Marcos to step in the continuous Charter change (Cha-cha) efforts to amend the existing 36-year-old Constitution through People's Initiative (PI) that is causing a "disruption" between the Senate and the House of Representatives (HOR).

In a television interview on ANC on Thursday, Jan. 25, Pimentel said that the senators feel like the PI has been hijacked by members of the HOR and that he also believes this information has already reached the President himself.

"So I hope that the President will now step in, exercise the powers and prerogatives of his office plus the leader of the HOR is his younger cousin na mayroon siyang (who he has) influence over, stop this foolishness," he said.

In a separate press conference, Pimentel disclosed that they have been receiving reports that congressmen are acting as supervisors who are monitoring the signature campaign at the grassroots level. He also pointed out its also congressmen who are boasting that they already got the "votes".

"You look at the structure of the HOR, pano ba magfunction iyan? (how do they function?) Diba mayroon silang centralized leadership diyan? (Don't they have a centralized leadership here?) It may be a small group of people or it also be just one person. And who is the leader of that house? He goes by the title Speaker of HOR," he said.

PI signature campaign

Pimentel is also keen on filing case/s directed at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which claimed that they are conducting a "ministerial role" of receiving signatures.

"I think we already have a justiciable controversy here and we can act. We can act legally in the sense of filing cases to already question what the Comelec is doing, what is your business receiving all these papers with signatures and sinasabi nila (they are saying) they have a 'ministerial role' to play as of the moment?" he said during the plenary session on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

"Based on what? On a law already characterized by the Supreme Court as insufficient to support a PI?" he added.

Pimentel was specifically referring to Republic Act No. 6735 also known as an act providing for a system of initiative and referendum and appropriating funds. He said cases will be directed at Comelec for receiving signatures from an "unknown entity". He added that the poll body does not even know who they owe this alleged duty to.

The senator mentioned that case/s may be filed before Comelec itself to stop what they are doing and/or the SC to prohibit Comelec from continuing to do what they have been doing under the justification of "a ministerial duty".

In a text message, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia clarified that aside from receiving the signatures, they have also been counting them hence the certifications that they have been issuing. 

Citing personal sources, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda told House reporters Wednesday, Jan. 24, that PI proponents have successfully achieved the 12-percent threshold for signatures needed by the movement.

Pimentel found it puzzling that Comelec has been receiving signatures from unknown entities yet the poll body knows what to do with them. He mentioned that they are "too accommodating", asking Comelec what law gave them the duty to accept papers with signatures and count them. 

Not on top of the minds of people

He said that the push for PI is not on the top of the minds of people but of a specialist on the 1987 Constitution.

The ongoing signature campaign is asking voters if they are in favor of amending the 1987 Constitution to pave the way for Congress to jointly vote on the proposed constitutional assembly in a constituent assembly or Con-ass.

"I mean someone who has studied the Constitution so hindi siya (so it's not the) people's concern. Imposible kahit na magsurvey ka dito na ano bang problema sa Konstitusyon natin (It's impossible even if you conduct a survey on what the Constitution's problem is), procedural? Imposible pong maisip ng taumbayan kaya nung nakita ko agad yung (It's impossible that the people will think of this that's why when I saw the) subject matter this is not a real people's initiative," he said.

"It may be a politician's initiative or may be a professor's initiative kasi kailangan medyo professor of law ka rito para maintindihan mo yun eh (because you have to be a professor of law to understand this)," he added.

Wrong, incorrect, immoral

Pimentel considers HOR hijacking the PI, which is the third mode of amending the existing Charter is "wrong, incorrect, and immoral" because the HOR has the second mode.

"Mayroon naman kaming mode available sa amin (There is a mode available to us) if you really want to amend the Constitution. Let us not hijack that mode reserved for the people, for the genuine peoples' voice," he said.

He pointed out that if the House leadership is keen on amending the Constitution, the available mode for legislators is through a constituent assembly.

“This is an abuse and a mistaken use of the third mode of amending the Constitution – people’s initiative – because na-hijacked na ng House of Representatives and proseso,” he said.

Pimentel added: “If they have brilliant ideas, the mode reserved for them is through a constituent assembly at huwag nilang i-hijack yung people’s initiative kasi para sa taumbayan yun.”