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People's Initiative is 'unconstitutional,' says ex-SC justice Carpio

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<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2941079" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p><br/>MANILA — The ongoing people&#x27;s initiative should be dismissed by the Commission on Elections as &quot;unconstitutional,&quot; former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Thursday.</p><p>The people&#x27;s initiative, one of three ways to revise the constitution, can only introduce amendments — not revisions — to the charter, said Carpio, citing provisions in the 1987 Constitution and a 2006 Supreme Court case, Lambino v. Comelec, he penned.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/01/23/24/comelec-defends-signature-count-for-peoples-initiative">Comelec chief defends signature counting ahead of People&#x27;s Initiative petition</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/01/08/24/charter-change-through-peoples-initiative-what-is-it">Charter change through People&#x27;s Initiative: What is it?</a></li></ul><div> </div><p>A signature campaign under the people&#x27;s initiative push is underway, and there is no petition yet lodged before the Comelec.</p><p>Under the initiative, senators and congressmen will vote jointly on charter change proposals, instead of separately as two houses of Congress, which would dilute the Senate&#x27;s vote of 24 members when combined with the House of Representatives&#x27; over 300 lawmakers.</p><p>Carpio said the people&#x27;s initiative &quot;only speaks of amendment&quot; while the other two modes to change the charter — constitutional convention and constituent assembly — can propose both an amendment and a revision to the constitution.</p><p>In the Lambino v. Comelec case, Carpio wrote that &quot;when you alter the check and balance in Congress, that is a revision.&quot;</p><p>&quot;There are several decisions in the US saying that when you alter the check and balance, in Congress or the government, that is a revision. It cannot be the subject of an amendment,&quot; he said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/20/24/peoples-initiative-threatens-legislative-checks-and-balances-carpio">People&#x27;s Initiative threatens legislative checks and balances: Carpio</a></li></ul><p>Revising the Constitution needs a deliberative body, Carpio pointed out.</p><p>A constituent assembly is composed of the members of Congress while delegates to previous constitutional conventions were elected at the legislative district level.</p><p>&quot;There must be debates and you need a recorded proceeding,&quot; he said. &quot;It&#x27;s not practical to include the revision of the constitution in a people’s initiative because there is no debate.&quot;</p><p>Carpio said the Comelec should dismiss the impending petition because according to its Resolution 10650, &quot;people&#x27;s initiative cannot include a constitutional revision, only an amendment.&quot;</p><p>&quot;If it allows this petition, if it verifies the signatures, the oppositors can go to the Supreme Court,&quot; he said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/25/24/stop-this-foolishness-marcos-urged-to-talk-to-romualdez-on-peoples-initiative">&#x27;Stop this foolishness&#x27;: Marcos urged to talk to Romualdez on &#x27;hijacked&#x27; People&#x27;s Initiative</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/23/24/marcos-on-paid-signatures-for-peoples-initiative-let-comelec-validate">Marcos on alleged ‘paid signatures&#x27; for people’s initiative: Let Comelec validate</a></li></ul><div> </div>

The people's initiative can only introduce amendments — not revisions — to the charter, said former SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.