New voters fill up forms outside the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office along Misamis Street in Quezon City on July 4, 2022. The Comelec on Monday (March 4, 2024) said would defer to the decision of lawmakers on the holding of plebiscites and any other electoral process. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it would defer to the decision of lawmakers on the holding of plebiscites and any other electoral process.
As for questions on the legality of a possible simultaneous plebiscite for charter reforms and the midterm elections next year, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said petitions may be filed before the Supreme Court.
“As with any other situation, any person may question such acts before the Supreme Court. Comelec will abide by the acts of Congress, if ever for this matter, sitting as a Constituent Assembly. The plebiscite by and large will depend on the decision of Congress and it being a political act, Comelec defers thereto,” he said in a statement.
Laudiangco's statement was issued after election lawyer Romulo Macalintal expressed doubts on the legality of the looming simultaneous May 2025 midterm polls and plebiscite to amend the 1987 Constitution.
The lawyer said Section 4, Article XVII (Amendments or Revisions) of the 1987 Constitution mandates that the ratification of any amendment to or revision of shall be done “in a plebiscite” and neither “in an election” nor in an “election and plebiscite."
"In other words, any such amendment or revision should be submitted for the people’s ratification in a plebiscite independently of the election of public officials," Macalintal said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier said he would want the plebiscite to be done simultaneously with the 2025 midterm polls, saying it is a "practical thing." (PNA)
