G.R. No. 127325 - Separate Opinion

G.R. No. 127325, March 14, 1997,
♦ Decision, Davide, Jr., [J]
♦ Dissenting and Concurring Opinion, Francisco, [J]
♦ Dissenting and Concurring Opinion, Panganiban, [J]
♦ Dissenting and Concurring Opinion, Puno, [J]
♦ Separate Opinion, Vitug, [J]

MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO, ALEXANDER PADILLA AND MARIA ISABEL ONGPIN, PETITIONERS, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, JESUS DELFIN, ALBERTO PEDROSA & CARMEN PEDROSA, IN THEIR CAPACITIES AS FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE’S INITIATIVE FOR REFORMS, MODERNIZATION AND ACTION (PIRMA), RESPONDENTS, SENATOR RAUL S. ROCO, DEMOKRASYA-IPAGTANGGOL ANG KONSTITUSYON (DIK), MOVEMENT OF ATTORNEYS FOR BROTHERHOOD INTEGRITY AND NATIONALISM, INC. (MABINI), INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES (IBP) AND LABAN NG DEMOKRATIKONG PILIPINO (LABAN), PETITIONERS-INTERVENORS.

It does seem to me that there is no real exigency on the part of the Court to engross, let alone to commit, itself on all the issues raised and debated upon by the parties. What is essential at this time would only be to resolve whether or not the petition filed with the COMELEC, signed by Atty. Jesus S. Delfin in his capacity as a "founding member of the Movement for People's Initiative" and seeking through a people initiative certain modifications on the 1987 Constitution, can property be regarded and given its due course. The Constitution, relative to any proposed amendment under this method, is explicit. Section 2, Article XVII, thereof provides:

The Delfin petition is thus utterly deficient. Instead of complying with the constitutional imperatives, the petition would rather have much of its burden passed on, in effect, to the COMELEC. The petition would require COMMELEC to schedule "signature gathering all over the country.: to cause the necessary publication of the petition "in newspapers of general and local circulation." and to instruct "Municipal Election Registrars in all Regions of the Philippines to assist petitioners and volunteers in establishing signing stations at the time and on the dates designated for the purpose."

I submit, even then, that the TRO earlier issued by the Court which, consequentially, is made permanent under the ponencia should be held to cover only the Delfin petition and must not be so understood as having intended or contemplated to embrace the signature drive of the Pedrosas. The grant of such a right is clearly implicit in the constitutional mandate on people initiative.

The district greatness of a democratic society is that those who reign are the governed themselves.ℒαwρhi৷ The postulate is no longer lightly taken as just a perceived myth but a veritable reality. The past has taught us that the vitality of government lies not so much in the strength of those who lead as in the consent of those who are led. The role of free speech is pivotal but it can only have its true meaning if it comes with the correlative end of being heard.

Pending a petition for a people's initiative that is sufficient in form and substance, it behooves the Court, I most respectfully submit, to yet refrain from resolving the question of whether or not Republic Act No. 6735 has effectively and sufficiently implemented the Constitutional provision on right of the people to directly propose constitutional amendments. Any opinion or view formulated by the Court at this point would at best be only a non-binding, albeit possibly persuasive, obiter dictum.

I vote for granting the instant petition before the Court and for clarifying that the TRO earlier issued by the Court did not proscribe the exercise by the Pedrosas of their right to campaign for constitutional amendments.