Court ruling a boost to 'people's initiative' move
Iloilo City -- Mayor Jerry Treñas claims victory on the decision of Judge Ma. Yolanda M. Panaguiton-Gaviño of Regional Trial Court Branch 34 junking the petition for Prohibition with Prayer for Preliminary Injunction and Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against him and local Comelec officials relative to the verification of signatures gathered for "people's initiative" to amend the 1987 Constitution.
The petition was filed by Ilonggo Movement Against Gloria's Cha-cha (I-March) led by lawyers Joshua Alim, Daniel Cartagena, Romeo Gerochi and Leo Sombiro.
Treñas said the petitioners should remember that the Comelec is a constitutional body and such, the local court has no jurisdiction to try or hear their petition.
He felt relieved after the dismissal of the petition.
Treñas said, Judge Gaviño's decision would be a precedent to other cases filed in Capiz and Negros Occidental.
Part of the court decision states that "in the instant case the petitioners (I-March) went directly to the court on petition for prohibition without raising any of its objections before the Comelec regional office. Nor did it file an action before the Comelec en banc in the exercise of a purely administrative function to enjoin its subordinate official in Iloilo from undertaking verification of the signatures which petitioners alleged to be irregular and contrary to law and jurisprudence."
The settled rule is that before a party may seek the intervention of the courts, he should avail of all means afforded by administrative processes. Hence, if a remedy within the administrative machinery is still available with a procedure prescribed pursuant to law for administrative officer to decide the controversy, a party should first exhaust such remedy before resorting to the courts, the decision states.
Treñas, who is the president of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) said with the dismissal of the case the signature verification will continue. Currently, the commission has already verified some 15.2 percent of the signatures submitted by different barangay leaders in what they dubbed as "people's initiative."
The Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines (ULAP) under Governor Erico Aumentado is also moving heaven and earth to amend the Constitution. They even came out with full-page advertisements in newspapers in support of moves to amend the Constitution.