Lambino vs.

Comelec
G.R. NO. 174153, OCTOBER 25, 2006

Facts:

Petitioners Raul L. Lambino and Erico B. Aumentado ("Lambino Group”) commenced

gathering signatures for an initiative petition to change the 1987 Constitution. The
Lambino Group filed a petition with the COMELEC to hold a plebiscite that will ratify
their initiative petition under Section 5(b) and (c) and Section 7 of the Initiative and
Referendum Act ("RA 6735"). The Lambino Group alleged that their petition constitutes
at least 12% of all registered voters, with each legislative district represented by at least
3% of its registered voters. The Lambino Group's initiative petition changes the 1987
Constitution by modifying Sections 1-7 of Article VI and Sections 1-4 of Article VII and by
adding Article XVIII entitled "Transitory Provisions." These proposed changes will shift the
present Bicameral-Presidential system to a Unicameral- Parliamentary form of
government.

Issue:

Whether or not the Lambino Group's initiative petition complies with Section 2, Article
XVII of the Constitution.

Held:

No. The essence of amendments "directly proposed by the people through initiative
upon a petition" is that the entire proposal on its face is a petition by the people. This
means two essential elements must be present. First, the people must author and thus
sign the entire proposal. No agent or representative can sign on their behalf. Second,
as an initiative upon a petition, the proposal must be embodied in a petition. These
essential elements are present only if the full text of the proposed amendments is first
shown to the people who express their assent by signing such complete proposal in a
petition. Section 2, Article XVII of the Constitution does not expressly state that the
petition must set forth the full text of the proposed amendments. In particular, the
deliberations of the Constitutional Commission explicitly reveal that the framers
intended that the people must first see the full text of the proposed amendments
before they sign, and that the people must sign on a petition containing such full text.
Indeed, Section 5(b) of the Initiative and Referendum Act, that the Lambino Group
invokes as valid, requires that the people must sign the "petition x x x as signatories."