Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS
Manila

SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDELINES
IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6735 IN
RELATION
TO
COMELEC
RESOLUTION
NO.
2300
REGARDING THE CONDUCT
OF INITIATIVE TO AMEND
THE CONSTITUTION.

ABALOS, Benjamin S.
Chairman
BORRA, Resurreccion Z. Commissioner
TUASON, Jr. Florentino A. Commissioner
BRAWNER, Romeo A.
Commissioner
SARMIENTO, Rene V.
Commissioner
FERRER, Nicodemo T.
Commissioner

Promulgated on 2 January 2007

RESOLUTION NO. 7796

WHEREAS, in G.R. No. 127325, entitled Miriam Defensor

Santiago, et al. vs. The Commission on Elections et al., the Supreme
Court held among others: (b) declaring Republic Act No. 6735
inadequate to cover the system of initiative on amendments to the
Constitution, and to have failed to provide sufficient standard for
subordinate legislation; and (c) declaring void those parts of
Resolution No. 2300 of the Commission on Elections prescribing rules
and regulations on the conduct of initiative on amendments to the
Constitution.

WHEREAS, in the Resolution of the Supreme Court in G.R. No.

174153, entitled, Raul L. Lambino, et. al vs- The Commission on
Elections, et al., and G. R. No. 174299, entitled, MAR-LEN Abigail
Binay, et al. vs- Commission on Elections et al., it is stated that:
Ten (10) members of the Court reiterate their position, as shown by
their various opinions already given when the Decision herein was
promulgated that Republic Act No. 6735 is sufficient and adequate to
amend the Constitution thru peoples initiative;

WHEREAS, in the light of the decision of the Supreme Court in

G. R. No. 174153, it is necessary to promulgate rules and regulations
to amend/supplement Comelec Resolution No. 2300 implementing the
provisions of Republic Act No. 6735 regarding the conduct of
initiatives to amend the constitution;

NOW THEREFORE, by virtue of the powers vested in it by the

Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code (B.P. Blg. 881), Republic
Act No. 6735, and other related election laws, the COMMISSION ON
ELECTIONS, resolves to promulgate, as it hereby promulgates, the
following rules and regulations to govern the conduct of initiative on
the Constitution.

SECTION 1. Definition of terms:

(a)

Proposition is the measure proposed by the

voters. It may be in question form, summarizing
the proposed amendment/s which shall be
submitted to the registered voters for approval;

(b)

Petition is the written instrument containing

the proposition and the required number of
signatories in the form to be prescribed by the
Commission on Elections, hereinafter referred
to as Commission;

(c)

Proposed Amendments to the Constitution

refers to the text of the proposed amendment/s
to the Constitution that must be incorporated in
the Petition.

(d)

Proponent is any registered voter or group of

registered voters proposing the amendments to
the Constitution.

SEC. 2. Filing of petition with signatures. Proponents

together with registered voters who signed the petition by affixing
their signature on the signature sheets shall file their petition,
containing the required number of signatures of registered voters duly
verified by the Election Officer in accordance with Sec. 6 hereof,
with the Law Department of the Commission on Elections. The same
shall be properly docketed upon payment of the appropriate filing fee.
The form of the petition is hereto attached as Annex A.
Initiative to amend the Constitution may be exercised by the
electorate only after five (5) years from its ratification on February 2,
1987, and only once every five (5) years thereafter.
SEC. 3. Required number of signatures. - A petition for
initiative to amend the constitution shall be deemed validly initiated if
signed by at least twelve per centum (12%) of the total number of
registered voters nationwide, of which every legislative district is
represented by a least three per centum (3%) of the registered voters
thereof.
Any registered voter or group of registered voters may act as
proponent/s to commence the process of initiative. Signature gathering
shall be the exclusive domain and private concern of the proponent/s.
All expenses relative thereto shall be solely borne by the proponent/s
and shall not be funded from public sources.
The proponent/s shall ensure that before the registered voters
sign the Petition and signify their support for filing the same, the
registered voters must have read and understood the Petition and the
proposed amendments to the Constitution.
The signatures of the registered voters on the signature sheets
shall constitute their approval of the proposed amendment in the
proposed initiative and their consent to the filing of the Petition.

SEC. 4. Certification on the number of registered voters. At the

instance of the proponents, the Election Records and Statistics
Department shall issue a certification on the total number of registered
voters in each legislative district.

SEC. 5. Signature Stations. - Signature stations may be

established by the proponents with the assistance of the Election
Officer in as many places in the city/municipality as may be
warranted. The proponent/s shall inform the concerned Election
Officers of the places where the stations will be set up, the dates of the
signature gathering and the dates when the signatures will be
submitted to the Election Officers for verification.

SEC. 6. Verification of signatures. - The Election Officer shall

verify the signatures on the basis of the registry list of voters, voters
affidavits and voters identification cards used in the immediately
preceding election. Verification of signatures may be done during or
after the signature gathering process. The Election Officer concerned
shall give notice of the verification dates by posting notices in at least
two (2) conspicuous places in the city/municipality at least one week
before the start of the verification.

The Election Officer shall exert all efforts to verify the

signatures submitted in the most expeditious and efficient manner and
shall refrain from any unnecessary delay.

After the Election Officer has verified the signatures submitted

to it by the proponents, the Election Officer shall issue a certification
of verification in five (5) copies, indicating therein the number of
signatures verified, number of signatures found to be similar or
identical and number of signatures found not to be similar or identical
on the basis of documents on file with his office or the Commission, a
sample form is hereto attached for ready reference as Annex B and
Verification Form as Annex B-1. After issuance of said
certification, custody of the signature sheets and the copies of the
petition to which they are attached and two (2) originals of the
certification shall be turned over to the Proponent/s thru its authorized
representative. The Election Officer shall retain one original in his
office for record purposes and the two other original copies shall be
transmitted to the Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor for
their file copy and for transmittal to the Law Department, Commission
on Elections, Manila.

SEC. 7. Determination by the Commission. - The Commission

shall act on the findings of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the
petition for initiative to amend the constitution.

If it should appear that the required number of signatures has not

been obtained, the petition shall be deemed defeated and the
Commission shall issue a declaration to that effect.

If it is satisfied that the required number of signatures has been

obtained, the Commission shall set the date of the plebiscite on the
initiative to amend the constitution in accordance with the succeeding
sections.

SEC. 8. Appeal. - The decision of the Commission on the

findings of the sufficiency and insufficiency of the petition for
initiative may be appealed to the Supreme Court within thirty (30)
days from notice thereof.

SEC. 9. Publication of proposition. - Within thirty (30) days

from receipt of the petition containing the required number of
signatures, the Commission shall publish the petition in Filipino and
English at least twice in newspapers of general and local circulation.

SEC. 10. Call and supervision of plebiscite on initiative to

amend the constitution. - The Commission shall set the date of the
plebiscite not earlier than sixty (60) days but not later than ninety (90)
days from the determination of the sufficiency of the petition in which
the proposition for amendment of the constitution shall be submitted
to all registered voters for their consideration. The Commission shall
supervise and control the conduct of the plebiscite called for the
purpose.
SEC. 11. Effectivity of initiative proposition. - a) If, as
certified by the Commission, the proposition is approved by a
majority of the votes cast, the amendment shall become effective as of
the date of the plebiscite.

b) If the majority vote is not obtained, the proposed amendment

is disapproved.

SEC. 12. Applicability of the Omnibus Election Code and other

relevant election laws. - The Omnibus Election Code (B.P. Blg. 881),
Republic Act No. 6735 and other relevant election laws shall apply to
all initiative and referenda.

SEC. 13. Effectivity. - This Resolution shall take effect on the

seventh day following its publication in the Official Gazette or in two
newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

(Sgd.) BENJAMIN S. ABALOS

Chairman

(Sgd.) RESURRECCION Z. BORRA (Sgd.) FLORENTINO A. TUASON,

JR.
Commissioner
Commissioner

(Sgd.) ROMEO A. BRAWNER

Commissioner

(Sgd.) RENE V. SARMIENTO

Commissioner

(Sgd.) NICODEMO T. FERRER

Commissioner