MANILA — Talk of amending the 1987 Constitution has been revived again, as it has been in every administration after President Corazon Aquino's.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez in December said the House of Representatives would move to rewrite portions of the Constitution this year, with amendments focused on economic provisions that restrict foreign ownership.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — Romualdez's cousin — ordered during the same month a review of the charter to determine whether an overhaul is needed to attract foreign investments.

Some House lawmakers this week raised concerns on supposed "nationwide" charter change campaigns in which mayors were allegedly asked to give P100 to every constituent, who would sign a petition to tweak a constitutional provision that directs the chambers of Congress to vote separately when modifying the Constitution.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said in a statement that the mayors had been informed that a people's initiative would be used in amending the constitution.

He alleged that the local chief executives "were given mobilization funds and the forms to be signed by at least three per centum of the registered voters of the legislative district to which their municipalities belong."

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Neither Lagman nor Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, who flagged a similar attempt in Quezon City, specifically named who were behind the alleged signature campaigns.

PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE

But what exactly is people's initiative and how does it work?

Aside from Congress, Filipinos can pass laws through the people's initiative, which is also one of three ways to revise the present charter.

The other modes are through constituent assembly — composed of the members of Congress — and through a constitutional convention.

Delegates to previous constitutional conventions were elected at the legislative district level.

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People's initiative — described as the "power of the people" — is provided for by the 1987 Constitution and its process is laid down in Republic Act 6735 or "The Initiative and Referendum Act."

According to Republic Act 6735, the public can propose constitutional amendments through a people's initiative by lodging a petition signed by at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters.

Each legislative district must also be represented by at least 3 percent of registered voters. Currently, there are over 67 million registered voters in the Philippines.

People's initiative can prove lengthy and expensive due to the challenging task of getting the required number of signatures, which have to be verified by the Commission on Elections.

Once the required number of signatories is reached, and after the petition is published twice in newspapers, the general voting public will head to a referendum to decide whether or not they approve of the proposal.

It should be voted favorably by the majority of voters for it to be enacted. It will be effective 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

PREVIOUS SIGNATURE CAMPAIGNS

The Commission on Elections in 2006 denied a signature campaign to amend the 1987 Constitution and adopt a unicameral-parliamentary system of government, saying RA 6735 was "inadequate" for constitutional amendments.

The Supreme Court later ruled that the amendment was not "directly proposed by the people" because the draft of the proposed amendment had already been prepared when signatures were gathered.

The court also said that it was not shown that the people who signed sheets for the petition had actually seen the petition in full and knew what they were signing.

"Clearly, the signature sheet is not the 'petition' that the framers of the Constitution envisioned when they formulated the initiative clause in Section 2, Article XVII of the Constitution," the court said in Lambino v. Comelec.

"The Constitution, as the fundamental law of the land, deserves the utmost respect and obedience of all the citizens of this nation," it also said.

"No one can trivialize the Constitution by cavalierly amending or revising it in blatant violation of the clearly specified modes of amendment and revision laid down in the Constitution itself."

An earlier signature campaign during the Ramos administration also failed at the Supreme Court.

CHARTER CHANGE TALKS IN PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS

Discussions on amending the 1987 Constitution have come up in every presidency since Fidel Ramos' and have been met with varying degrees of enthusiasm by sitting presidents.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte made constitutional change towards a federal form of government a campaign promise but eventually acknowledged that there was no appetite for it among Filipinos.

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Calls for charter change were more muted during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III, who initially shunned the idea but said in 2014 amid tension with the judiciary that he was open to it.

Former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada launched Constitutional Correction for Development, which pushed for relaxing restrictions on foreign ownership. The push was short-lived because of widespread opposition to it.

A Pulse Asia poll released in April last year showed that Filipinos were split about changing the 1987 Constitution at the time of the survey.

"Essentially the same percentages of Filipino adults are either opposed to (45 percent) or supportive of (41 percent) changing the 1987 Philippine Constitution now," Pulse Asia said, citing its March 15 to 19, 2023 survey of 1,200 adults.

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