Onward to the SC!

Hooray for the Comelec! In a unanimous decision, the Comelec en banc has junked the petition of the Sigaw ng Bayan and Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines due to the absence of an enabling law.

SnB’s riposte is that they will bring their case all the way to the Supreme Court. One Voice and the other anti-chacha groups are prepared for the legal battle ahead.

Here is the press release issued by One Voice today:

One Voice commends Comelec for junking fake “People’s” Initiative

One Voice, a multisectoral group that is against a bogus “people’s” initiative, commended the Comelec for its unanimous decision to junk the Sigaw ng Bayan petition in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling on Santiago VS Comelec.

“We thank the commissioners for this unanimous decision. This is certainly not the end of this but it is a welcome development. We expect that the matter will be brought up to the Supreme Court by Sigaw ng Bayan. In any case, the people must continue to be vigilant and aware of all these attempts to change the Constitution under highly questionable means,” One Voice said.

One Voice lead convener Christian Monsod anticipates that Sigaw ng Bayan and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines would still bring the matter to the Supreme Court. Once Sigaw ng Bayan files its petition, Monsod said One Voice is also prepared to submit its opposition before the Supreme Court.

Monsod, former member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and chair of the Commission on Elections, said One Voice will oppose the petition of SnB on questions of law once the case reaches the Supreme Court. He cited the absence of an enabling law and the illegal use of the people’s initiative provision to revise the Constitution as grounds for opposing the Sigaw ng Bayan petition before the Supreme Court. “It is stated in our Constitution and reflected clearly in the records of the Constitutional Commission that a people’s initiative can only be used only for specific amendments to, and not revisions of, the Constitution.”

“Constitutional reforms are best done through a constitutional convention, but only after a massive education campaign and meaningful electoral reforms, and without incumbent politicians benefiting from it,” One Voice stressed. ###