Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Garcia on Monday, January 15, said the signatures in the campaign for charter change (cha-cha) through people's initiative would be deemed invalid once proven that voters were bribed.
Interviewed during DZRH Magandang Umaga Pilipinas, Garcia explained that the poll body's Resolution 10650 strictly prohibits the use of government funds to secure voters' signatures in a petition.
"Doon mismo sa aming resolution, resolution 10650 bilang gabay namin sa People's Initiative. Sa section 50 no'n, hindi pwedeng gumamit ng pondo ng pamahalaan lalong-lalo na ang purpose ay pag-secure ng signature ng ating botante para lang sa isang people's initative," he said.
The Comelec chairman said the poll body could invalidate the signatures during the verification process.
"Kung mapapatunayan na ang boto ni Juan, Maria, at Jose, ay nakuha sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay o pagtanggap ng pera, ayan ay pwedeng mabaliwala, kapag nando'n na tayo sa punto ng verification which is matagal pa yun verification kung sakaling may maifa-file na petition sa amin," he said.
Senator Imee Marcos earlier told DZRH that Congressmen in several districts were offered P20 million in exchange for 20,000 signatures to petition to amend the Philippine Constitution. She claimed that the bribe money was allegedly sourced from the social welfare department, the health department, and the labor department.
Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman first disclosed that Albay municipal mayors received funds to buy the signatures of their constituents for the People’s Initiative campaign. Each voter was allegedly paid P100 for his or her signature.
Bayan Muna Partylist chairman also exposed that there was a cha-cha petition paper circulating in some cities in the National Captial Region during the holiday season last year.
