Santiago v.

COMELEC
GR 127325, 270 SCRA 106 (1997)

Facts: Delfin filed with COMELEC petition to amend the Constitution by people’s initiative. He
proposed to lift the term limits of elective officials. COMELEC acted on the petition. Santiago et
al. now petitions to prohibit COMELEC from further acting on the petition. They aver that the
constitutional provision on people’s initiative (Art. XVII, Sec 2) has no implementing law yet
notwithstanding RA 6735, and that COMELEC Resolution No. 2300, insofar as it seeks to govern
the conduct of initiative on the amendments to the Constitution, is ultra vires.

Issues:
(1) Is RA 6735 (The Initiative and Referendum Act) a sufficient statutory implementation of
Art XVII, Sec 2 of the Constitution?
(2) May COMELEC validly take cognizance of the Delfin Petition?

Held:
(1) No. RA 6735 is incomplete, inadequate, and wanting in essential terms and conditions
insofar as initiative on amendments to the Constitution is concerned. The inclusion of
the word “Constitution” in Sec 2 of RA 6735 (section on the “Statement and Policy”) was
a delayed afterthought. It is neither germane of relevant to that section. While the Act
provides subtitles for initiative on national laws and local laws, no subtitle is provided
for initiative on the Constitution. This conspicuous silence simply means that the main
thrust of the Act is initiative and referendum on national and local laws [only]. RA 6735
merely paid lip service to the system of initiative on amendments to the Constitution in
contrast to the utmost diligence and care exerted in providing for the details of that for
the national and local legislation.
(2) No. The lacunae of RA 6735 on the foregoing substantive matter (the system of initiative
on amendments to the Constitution) are fatal and cannot be cured by “empowering”
the COMELEC “to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry
out the purposes [of the] Act”. Therefore, COMELEC Res. No. 2300, insofar as it
promulgates such rules and regulations, is void.