SC tells Ulap, Sigaw: Show proof of authentic signatures

Prove it. The Supreme Court (SC) ordered Wednesday Charter change proponents to provide evidence that the 6.3 million signatures gathered for a people's initiative complied with legal standards that would allow sufficent representation of the people's sentiments. After being dressed down by at least four associate justices, the multi-sectoral Sigaw ng Bayan and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) to show proof that the signatures represented three percent of each congressional district as well as 12 percent of all voters. Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban gave Sigaw and Ulap 15 days to comply with the order. The two groups had earlier claimed to have collected some 10 million signatures, but was trimmed to its present 6.3 million signatures after supposed "verification." About five million signatories are needed to start a people's initiative. However, magistrates questioned the authenticity of the signatures, which they said may have been gathered without due verification and adequate information for the signatories. Panganiban also ordered the principal oppositors of the people's initiative to similarly submit evidence to show that Sigaw and Ulap failed to collect enough signatures in some congressional districts. Senator Joker Arroyo and lawyer Carlos Medina of One Voice are the chief oppositors of the move. Ulap president Gov. Erico Aumentado and Sigaw spokesman Raul Lambino, meanwhile, have been leading the people's initiative campaign. The Commission on Elections (Comelec), which earlier struck down the Sigaw and Ulap petition, was also ordered to submit certifications on the authenticity of the signatures. Lambino had repeatedly noted that representatives from Comelec's regional officies supposedly scrutinized and discarded duplicate and spurious signatures. "All the parties are given 15 days from today (Tuesday) to submit their memorandum. This factual issue, whether the three percent are meet in all congressional district all over the country and after this, this case will be submitted for resolution with or without your memorandum," Panganiban said. "If is true that the three percent minimum requirement was not reach even in one congressional district, it will be the end of the petition and it will be dismissed," Panganiban said. Arroyo, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Charter change critics and even the Comelec have argued that Sigaw and Ulap petition should be rejected because of the absence of an enabling law. Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez reprimanded Solicitor General Antonio Eduardo Nachura, who argued in favor of a people's initiative, during the nine-hour oral arguments Tuesday. "Will you entrust the fate of our country, the Filipino people, in the hands of 6.3 million voters who you and I don't know?" Sandoval asked. She noted that some of her relatives in the provinces were convinced to become signatories without being adequately informed about how their signatures would be used.-GMANews.TV