House Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe on Friday urged the Senate to terminate its inquiry into the alleged bribery of voters in thesignature campaign of people’s initiative (PI) advocates to amend the Charter.
Dalipe said the Commission on Elections has already decided to indefinitely suspend the acceptance of PI signatures.
He noted that senators may also be losing interest in the hearing, judging from the failure of the witnesses to present evidence of alleged bribery.
Dalipe reiterated his call for members of the Upper Chamber to help Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to beat their self-imposed deadline to pass Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6.
“Let’s just work together to pass RBH 6. People’s Initiative is definitely gone,” he said.
The House leader said Comelec is now busy preparing for next year’s mid-term elections and that it would have no time for a plebiscite.
“This means that the PI is in the freezer, for now. So, what is there to investigate, unless the purpose is to target some personalities, embarrass them? The Senate inquiry is just a waste of taxpayers’ money that could otherwise be used for productive purposes,” he said.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said the commission has decided to suspend all people’s initiative proceedings to make way for reviewing and amending rules regarding the initiative.
“We honestly believe, based on our initial assessment, that we have to review, enhance, or add to the existing IRR concerning PI because we think that there is something that is lacking in the guidelines,” Garcia said.
“For example, our rules on withdrawal, our rules on opposition, and the rules on notices that we need in the end to avoid problems, confusion, and misunderstandings when it comes to the interpretation of the provisions of our rules,” he added.