10/14/21, 5:11 PM Case Digest: MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO v.

COMELEC

by Marryl Crafts

    
MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO v. COMELEC, GR No. 127325, 1997-03-19 (/juris/view/c874a?
user=gMzV4eXVKZUh4cXpTN2oxV3pqR2hJaDVzbDNZeHdNYjlibzZxNFR1YWp1Zz0=)

Facts:

Delfin alleged in his petition that

Attached to the... petition is a copy of a "Petition for Initiative on the 1987 Constitution"[10] embodying the
proposed amendments which consist in the deletion from the aforecited sections of the provisions
concerning term limits, and with the following proposition:

DO YOU APPROVE OF LIFTING THE TERM LIMITS OF ALL ELECTIVE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS,
AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTIONS 4 AND 7 OF ARTICLE VI, SECTION 4 OF ARTICLE VII, AND
SECTION 8 OF ARTICLE X OF THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION?

According to Delfin, the said Petition for Initiative will first be submitted to the people, and after it is signed
by at least twelve per cent of the total number of registered voters in the country it will be formally filed with
the COMELEC.

On 18 December 1996, the petitioners herein -- Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Alexander Padilla, and
Maria Isabel Ongpin -- filed this special civil action for prohibition raising the following arguments:

(1) The constitutional provision on people's initiative to amend the Constitution can only be implemented by
law to be passed by Congress. No such law has been passed;

(2) It is true that R.A. No. 6735 provides for three systems of initiative, namely, initiative on the Constitution,
on statutes, and on local legislation. However, it failed to provide any subtitle on initiative on the Constitution,
unlike in the other modes of initiative, which... are specifically provided for in Subtitle II and Subtitle III. This
deliberate omission indicates that the matter of people's initiative to amend the Constitution was left to some
future law.

(5)The people's initiative is limited to amendments to the Constitution, not to revision thereof. Extending or
lifting of term limits constitutes a revision and is, therefore, outside the power of the people's initiative.

(6) Finally, Congress has not yet appropriated funds for people's initiative; neither the COMELEC nor any
other government department, agency, or office has realigned funds for the purpose.

Issues:

Issue No. 1

Whether R.A. No. 6735, entitled An Act Providing for a System of Initiative and Referendum and
Appropriating Funds Therefor, was intended to include or cover initiative on amendments to the
Constitution; and if so, whether the Act, as worded, adequately covers... such initiative

Issue No. 2

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Whether that portion of COMELEC Resolution No. 2300 (In re: Rules and Regulations Governing the
Conduct of Initiative on the Constitution, and Initiative and Referendum on National and Local Laws)
regarding the conduct of initiative on amendments to the Constitution is valid,... considering the absence in
the law of specific provisions on the conduct of such initiative

Issue No. 3

Whether the lifting of term limits of elective national and local officials, as proposed in the draft "Petition for
Initiative on the 1987 Constitution," would constitute a revision of, or an amendment to, the Constitution.

Ruling:

Ruling on the first issue:

R.A. NO. 6735 INTENDED TO INCLUDE THE SYSTEM

OF INITIATIVE ON AMENDMENTS TO THE

CONSTITUTION, BUT IS, UNFORTUNATELY,... INADEQUATE TO COVER THAT SYSTEM.

Section 2 of Article XVII of the Constitution provides:

SEC. 2. Amendments to this Constitution may likewise be directly proposed by the people through initiative
upon a petition of at least twelve per centum of the total number of registered voters, of which every
legislative district must be represented by at least... three per centum of the registered voters therein. No
amendment under this section shall be authorized within five years following the ratification of this
Constitution nor oftener than once every five years thereafter.

The Congress shall provide for the implementation of the exercise of this right.

This provision is not self-executory. In his book,[29] Joaquin Bernas, a member of the 1986 Constitutional
Commission, stated:

Without implementing legislation Section 2 cannot operate. Thus, although this mode of amending the
Constitution is a mode of amendment which bypasses congressional action, in the last analysis it still is
dependent on congressional action.

Bluntly stated, the right of the people to directly propose amendments to the Constitution through the
system of initiative would remain entombed in the cold niche of the Constitution until Congress provides for
its implementation. Stated otherwise, while the Constitution has... recognized or granted that right, the
people cannot exercise it if Congress, for whatever reason, does not provide for its implementation.

Ruling on the second issue

COMELEC RESOLUTION NO. 2300, INSOFAR AS IT PRESCRIBES RULES AND REGULATIONS ON THE
CONDUCT OF INITIATIVE ON AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION, IS VOID.

It logically follows that the COMELEC cannot validly promulgate rules and regulations to implement the
exercise of the right of the people to directly propose amendments to the Constitution through the system of
initiative. It does not have that power under R.A. No. 6735.

Reliance on the COMELEC's power under Section 2(1) of Article IX-C of the Constitution is misplaced, for the
laws and regulations referred to therein are those promulgated by the COMELEC under (a) Section 3 of
Article IX-C of the Constitution, or (b) a law where subordinate... legislation is authorized and which satisfies
the "completeness" and the "sufficient standard" tests.
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10/14/21, 5:11 PM Case Digest: MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO v. COMELEC

Ruling on the 3rd issue

The foregoing considered, further discussion on the issue of whether the proposal to lift the term limits of the
elective national and local officials is an amendment to, and not a revision of, the Constitution is rendered
unnecessary, if not academic.

Principles:

Section 2 of Article XVII of the Constitution... is not self-executory.

Without implementing legislation Section 2 cannot operate. Thus, although this mode of amending the
Constitution is a mode of amendment which bypasses congressional action, in the last analysis it still is
dependent on congressional action.

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