An (Attempt) to Explain the PH People's Initiative 🗣

Lately, there's been a lot of chit-chat about changing some parts of the 1987 Constitution. The big talk is about making it easier for foreign investors to get involved in our economy. Even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and House Speaker Martin Romualdez (yup, they're cousins) are on board with reviewing and possibly rewriting parts of the charter to attract more foreign investments​​.

What’s People's Initiative Anyway?

People's Initiative is like our superhero power. It's a way for us, regular citizens, to propose changes to the law or the constitution directly, without waiting for Congress to do it. Think of it as ‘DIY law-making’. We can actually initiate changes ourselves, through a process laid out in Republic Act 6735, also known as "The Initiative and Referendum Act"​​.

How Does It Work?

Here's the rundown: To get the ball rolling on People's Initiative, we need a petition signed by at least 12% of all registered voters across the Philippines. And it's not just about gathering a bunch of signatures nationwide; each legislative district has to show strong support too, with at least 3% of registered voters there signing the petition. Given that there are over 67 million registered voters in the country, that's a lot of signatures to collect!​​.

After all those signatures are verified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the petition is published in newspapers, it's time for a referendum. This is when everyone heads to the polls to vote "yes" or "no" on the proposed change. If the majority votes "yes," bam! The change is approved and becomes official 15 days after it's published in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation​​.

But, There's a Catch...

While People's Initiative sounds awesome, it's not a walk in the park. It's a hefty process – collecting millions of signatures, getting them verified, and then conducting a nationwide vote. It's both time-consuming and expensive. Plus, there have been attempts in the past that didn't exactly go as planned. For instance, a 2006 attempt to shift to a unicameral-parliamentary system was nixed by the Comelec and eventually the Supreme Court, partly because the process wasn't deemed fully by the people, as the proposed changes were already drafted before the signatures were even collected​​.

So, What's the Takeaway?

People's Initiative is a powerful tool for us Filipinos to directly influence our country's laws and constitution. It embodies the essence of democracy by giving power to the people. However, it's a path filled with challenges and requires widespread support and understanding of what's being proposed.