Garbin: Those who signed people’s initiative fully understood content

Garbin: Those who signed people’s initiative fully understood content

MANILA, Philippines — Former lawmaker Alfredo Garbin Jr., one of the petitioners for the people’s initiative (PI) to amend the 1987 Constitution, said on Monday that those who signed in support of the initiative fully understood the content of the signature sheet before agreeing to its terms.

Addressing allegations that the PI signature sheets used highly technical language, making it challenging for ordinary individuals to comprehend, the former Ako Bicol partylist Representative clarified that proponents of the initiative had explained the content of the sheet in the signatories’ native language.

“Alam mo yung aming pag distribute ng mga signature sheet, wherein nakapalaman na doon yung one line proposed amendment sa ating Saligang Batas, ito ay naipaliwanag sa ating mga kababayan sa barangay level at tina-Tagalog natin. In our case sa Bicol Region, Bini-Bikolano natin,” he explained in an interview over at ANC.

READ: Comelec OKs ‘withdrawal form’ to void Cha-cha petition signatures

(You know, our distribution of the signature sheets, where the one-line proposed amendment to our Constitution is included, was explained to our fellow citizens at the barangay level, and we translated it into Tagalog. In our case, in the Bicol Region, we used Bikolano.)

The signature sheet specifically asks voters whether they are in favor of amending Article 17 Section 1 of the country’s principal Charter, which, if amended via PI, would entail all members of Congress voting jointly on proposed amendments to the Constitution.

“Ang sinasabi lang natin ay ganoon kasimple: payag ba kayo na ang botohan sa Kongreso kapag nagkaroon ng proposed amendment or revision sa ating Konstitusyon ay joint voting? Meaning magkasama silang boboto at iyon ay bibilangin bilang isang asembliya? Naiintindihan naman nila, so sa tingin ko walang technicality. Hindi sila nahirapan sa pag-intindi ng joint voting,” Garbin added.

(What we are saying

… Read more