KUMPIYANSA si dating chairperson ng House Committee on Constitutional Amendments na papasa sa kuwestyong legal ang isinusulong na people’s initiative.

Ito ang sinabi ni dating Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin matapos sabihin ni retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio na unconstitutional ang People’s Initiative dahil ang isinusulong nito ay revision at hindi amendment lamang ng Konstitusyon.

Tinutulan din ni Carpio ang pagsasagawa ng joint voting ng Senado at Kamara.

“I do not agree. When the members of Congress sits as a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass), I have been emphasizing that they are no longer acting as legislators, but as constituents. Their mandate is no longer to craft ordinary laws which are not required to be ratified by the people, where the bicameral nature of Congress comes into play for checks and balances,” ani Garbin.

“As the members of Con-Ass, the lawmakers have a different Constitutional mandate now, separate and distinct from their responsibilities under the Article VI of the Constitution. Their mandate is to act as one, as a singular entity, a single assembly, to propose changes to the Constitution that will be thrown to the people for their final say,” paliwanag ni Garbin.

Ipinunto ni Garbin na kung ang intensyon ng mga gumawa ng Konstitusyon ay payagan ang pag-amyenda na parang ordinaryong batas dapat ay isinama nila ito sa Article VI- Legislative Department kung saan magkahiwalay na bumoboto ang Senado at Kamara at hindi inilagay sa hiwalay na Article.

“The Constitution is a carefully prepared and precisely crafted document. The division of the subject matters and functions to separate Articles were made purposefully to highlight the different duties and responsibilities, or delegation of powers it hands out. If the intention of the Constitution is for the bicameral nature of the Legislative Department to subsist when proposing changes to the Constitution, then Amendments and Revisions as a Con-Ass should have been included in Article VI – Legislative Department where bicameralism is mandated, and not in an Article of its own,” sabi ni Garbin.

Sa usapin ng revision o amendment ang gagawin sa isinusulong na people’s initiative, sinabi ni Garbin na isang pangungusap lamang ang nais na baguhin sa itinutulak na pagbabago.

Para kay Garbin hindi totoo na magugulo ang checks and balance sa gobyerno kapag bumoto ng magkasama sa Con-Ass ang Senado at Kamara dahil gagawin ito para lamang sa pagbabago ng Konstitusyon at hindi sa paggawa ng batas.

Ipinunto pa ni Garbin na hindi naman otomatikong ipatutupad ang mga mapagkakasunduan sa Con-Ass dahil sa huli ang taumbayan pa rin magdedesisyon kung tatanggapin nila ang mga pagbabago o hindi sa isang plebisito.

Kapag hindi nakuha ng panukalang pagbabago ang mayorya ng boto, hindi ito maipatutupad, giit ni Garbin.