Comelec Stops Accepting Signatures for People’s Initiative

The provincial and local offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are no longer accepting signatures for People’s Initiative for the amendment of the 1987 Constitution since Tuesday, January 30, its provincial supervisor, Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria, said on Wednesday, January 31.

“The instruction from the national office to us is just to preserve, seal, and secure the signatures that have been submitted to us pending review,” Ananoria said.

Per the record of Comelec, there are already 248,398 signatures for charter change (ChaCha) that have been submitted in the province, including Bacolod City.

Meanwhile, lawyer Caesar Beloria, who launched a signature campaign to withdraw the signatures for PI, said they already have evidence to prove that the signature campaign for PI has irregularities in Bacolod City.

“We have proof that it was initiated by some political leaders and that we are gathering more proof for the witnesses to execute the affidavit,” he added.

He said their initiative is not only a signature campaign but also the withdrawal of the signatures.*