Republic Act No. 6735

8/13/2019 Republic Act No. 6735

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Republic of the PhilippinesCongress of the Philippines

Metro Manila

Eighth Congress

Republic Act No. 6735 August4, 199

AN AC! PR"#$%$N& '"R A ()(!E* "'$N$!$A!$#E AN% RE'EREN%+* AN%APPR"PR$A!$N& '+N%( !ERE'"R

Be it enacted by the Senate and House ofRepresentatives of the Philippines inCongress assembled::

$. - &enerl Pro/isions

(ection 1. Title. This Act shall beknown as "!he $nititi/e n0Referen0u Act."

(ection 2. Statement of Policy. Thepower of the people under a system ofinitiative and referendum to directlypropose, enact, approve or reject, in wholeor in part, the Constitution, laws,ordinances, or resolutions passed by anyleislative body upon compliance with there!uirements of this Act is hereby

affirmed, reconied and uaranteed#

(ection 3. Definition of Terms. $orpurposes of this Act, the followin termsshall mean:

%a& "'nitiative" is the power of thepeople to propose amendments tothe Constitution or to propose andenact leislations throuh anelection called for the purpose#

There are three %(& systems ofinitiative, namely:

a#) 'nitiative on theConstitution which refers toa petition proposinamendments to theConstitution*

a#+# 'nitiative on statuteswhich refers to a petitionproposin to enact anational leislation* and

a#(# 'nitiative on localleislation which refers to apetition proposin to enacta reional, provincial, city,municipal, or baranay law,resolution or ordinance#

%b& "'ndirect initiative" is eerciseof initiative by the people throuha proposition sent to Conress orthe local leislative body for action#

%c& "-eferendum" is the power ofthe electorate to approve or rejecta leislation throuh an electioncalled for the purpose# 't may be oftwo classes, namely:

c#)# -eferendum on statuteswhich refers to a petition toapprove or reject an act orlaw, or part thereof, passedby Conress* and

c#+# -eferendum on locallaw which refers to apetition to approve or rejecta law, resolution orordinance enacted by

reional assemblies andlocal leislative bodies#

%d& ".roposition" is the measureproposed by the voters#

%e& ".lebiscite" is the electoralprocess by which an initiative on

the Constitution is approved orrejected by the people#

%f& ".etition" is the writteninstrument containin theproposition and the re!uirednumber of sinatories# 't shall be ina form to be determined by andsubmitted to the Commission on/lections, hereinafter referred to asthe Commission#

%& "0ocal overnment units" refersto provinces, cities, municipalitiesand baranays#

%h& "0ocal leislative bodies" refersto the 1anunian .anlalawian,1anunian .anlunsod,1anunian 2ayan, and1anunian 3ayon#

%i& "0ocal eecutives" refers to the

.rovincial 4overnors, City orMunicipal Mayors and .unon2aranay, as the case may be#

(ection 4. Who may exercise. Thepower of initiative and referendum may beeercised by all reistered voters of thecountry, autonomous reions, provinces,cities, municipalities and baranays#

(ection 5. Requirements. %a& Toeercise the power of initiative orreferendum, at least ten per centum


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%)56& of the total number of thereistered voters, of which everyleislative district is represented by atleast three per centum %(6& of thereistered voters thereof, shall sin apetition for the purpose and reister thesame with the Commission#

%b& A petition for an initiative onthe )789 Constitution must have atleast twelve per centum %)+6& ofthe total number of reisteredvoters as sinatories, of whichevery leislative district must berepresented by at least three percentum %(6& of the reisteredvoters therein# 'nitiative on theConstitution may be eercised onlyafter five %& years from theratification of the )789 Constitution

and only once every five %& yearsthereafter#

%c& The petition shall state thefollowin:

c#)# contents or tet of theproposed law souht to beenacted, approved orrejected, amended orrepealed, as the case maybe*

c#+# the proposition*

c#(# the reason or reasonstherefor*

c#;# that it is not one of theeceptions provided herein*

c## sinatures of thepetitioners or reistered

voters* and

c#


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'f, as certified to by theCommission, the proposition isapproved by a majority of the votescast, the national law proposed forenactment, approval, oramendment shall become effectivefifteen %)& days followincompletion of its publication in the

@fficial 4aette or in a newspaperof eneral circulation in the.hilippines# 'f, as certified by theCommission, the proposition toreject a national law is approved bya majority of the votes cast, thesaid national law shall be deemedrepealed and the repeal shallbecome effective fifteen %)& daysfollowin the completion ofpublication of the proposition andthe certification by the Commission

in the @fficial 4aette or in anewspaper of eneral circulation inthe .hilippines#

owever, if the majority vote is notobtained, the national law souhtto be rejected or amended shallremain in full force and effect#

%b& The proposition in an initiativeon the Constitution approved by amajority of the votes cast in the

plebiscite shall become effective asto the day of the plebiscite#

%c& A national or local initiativeproposition approved by majority ofthe votes cast in an election calledfor the purpose shall becomeeffective fifteen %)& days aftercertification and proclamation bythe Commission#

(ection 1. Prohi!ited "easures. The followin cannot be the subject of aninitiative or referendum petition:

%a& 3o petition embracin morethan one %)& subject shall besubmitted to the electorate* and

%b& 1tatutes involvin emerencymeasures, the enactment of whichare specifically vested in Conressby the Constitution, cannot besubject to referendum until ninety%75& days after its effectivity#

(ection 11. Indirect Initiative. Anyduly accredited people=s oraniation, asdefined by law, may file a petition forindirect initiative with the ouse of-epresentatives, and other leislativebodies# The petition shall contain asummary of the chief purposes andcontents of the bill that the oraniationproposes to be enacted into law by theleislature#

The procedure to be followed on theinitiative bill shall be the same as theenactment of any leislative measurebefore the ouse of -epresentativesecept that the said initiative bill shall

have precedence over the pendinleislative measures on the committee#

(ection 12. #ppeal. The decision ofthe Commission on the findins of thesufficiency or insufficiency of the petitionfor initiative or referendum may beappealed to the 1upreme Court withinthirty %(5& days from notice thereof#

$$$. - ocl $nititi/e n0 Referen0u

(EC!$"N 13. Procedure in $ocalInitiative. %a& 3ot less than twothousand %+,555& reistered voters in caseof autonomous reions, one thousand%),555& in case of provinces and cities, onehundred %)55& in case of municipalities,and fifty %5& in case of baranays, mayfile a petition with the -eional Assembly

or local leislative body, respectively,proposin the adoption, enactment,repeal, or amendment, of any law,ordinance or resolution#

%b& 'f no favorable action thereon ismade by local leislative bodywithin %(5& days from itspresentation, the proponentsthrouh their duly authoried andreistered representative mayinvoke their power of initiative,

ivin notice thereof to the localleislative body concerned#

%c& The proposition shall benumbered serially startin fromone %) The 1ecretary of 0ocal4overnment or his desinatedrepresentative shall etendassistance in the formulation of theproposition#

%d& Two or more propositions maybe submitted in an initiative#

%e& .roponents shall have onehundred twenty %)+5& days in caseof autonomous reions, ninety %75&days in case of provinces andcities, sity %


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%f& The petition shall be sinedbefore the /lection -eistrar, or hisdesinated representative, in thepresence of a representative of theproponent, and a representative ofthe reional assemblies and localleislative bodies concerned in apublic place in the autonomous

reion or local overnment unit, asthe case may be# 1inaturestations may be established in asmany places as may be warranted#

%& Bpon the lapse of the periodherein provided, the Commissionon /lections, throuh its office inthe local overnment unitconcerned shall certify as towhether or not the re!uirednumber of sinatures has been

obtained# $ailure to obtain there!uired number is a defeat of theproposition#

%h& 'f the re!uired number of thesinatures is obtained, theCommission shall then set a datefor the initiative at which theproposition shall be submitted tothe reistered voters in the localovernment unit concerned fortheir approval within ninety %75&

days from the date of certificationby the Commission, as provided insubsection %& hereof, in case ofautonomous reions, sity %


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may be necessary to carry out thepurposes of this Act#

(ection 21. #ppropriations. Theamount necessary to defray the cost ofthe initial implementation of this Act shallbe chared aainst the Continent $und inthe 4eneral Appropriations Act of the

current year# Thereafter, such sums asmay be necessary for the fullimplementation of this Act shall beincluded in the annual 4eneralAppropriations Act#

(ection 22. Separa!ility Clause. 'fany part or provision of this Act is heldinvalid or unconstitutional, the other partsor provisions thereof shall remain validand effective#

(ection 23. ffectivity. This Act shalltake effect fifteen %)& days after itspublication in a newspaper of eneralcirculation#

Approved: August 4, 199

Documents

Republic Act No. 6735