Petitions, initiatives and referendums: tools already in Philippine law

The 1987 Constitution provides for a system of initiative and referendum, and Republic Act No. 6735 sets out how citizens may propose and enact laws or approve or reject them. The Local Government Code adds local initiative and referendum for ordinances and resolutions.

In other words, the people’s direct participation in law-making is not a foreign idea for the Philippines. It is already written down. Yet these tools are seldom used successfully, and many citizens do not know they exist.

Why tools on paper stay on paper

• Requirements that are hard for ordinary citizens to meet without organisation and funds.
• Little public information on how to begin.
• No habit of use: a tool never used looks impossible.

The Poliarchism approach

Poliarchism does not start by inventing new powers. It starts by asking how existing lawful tools can be made understandable, achievable and routine, and how institutions can be designed to answer citizens who use them. That is what institutionalized participation means in practice.