Hold economic Cha-cha plebiscite before May 2025 polls, solons urge

Members of the House of Representatives on Monday said the plebiscite for Charter change (Cha-cha) should be held ahead of the May 2025 midterm elections and called on the Senate to hasten its passage  of the Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6 which lifts the foreign ownership limit of public utilities and other vital industries.

“I have been consistent in my position that the plebiscite should not be held simultaneously with the 2025 midterm elections. We cannot allow the Constitution to be tainted with politics and political mudslinging,” Deputy Speaker and Quezon lawmaker Jay-jay Suarez said in a press conference.

“We cannot allow the Constitution to be tackled at the same level of the midterm election. The Constitution is more important, kaya dapat nakabukod ito sa botohan [so it should be separate from the voting]. We have to do it earlier [than the 2025 polls],” Suarez added.

The Commission on Elections earlier said that it is willing to conduct the Cha-cha plebiscite simultaneous with the 2025 polls since it will entail less amount of expenses.

But for the lawmakers, the Constitution and the corresponding plebiscite to amend its economic provisions cannot serve as a mere rider to the 2025 polls which is a political exercise.

“The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and we have to make sure that the plebiscite is focused on constitutional amendments. And so I call on my colleagues in the Senate to have the sense of urgency. The ultimate goal is to pass RBH 6,” Suarez said.

“The people will better understand Charter change if the plebiscite will be held separately,” Zambales legislator Jeff Khonghun added.

La Union representative Francisco Paolo Ortega, for his part, said that “the Constitution should be put on a pedestal on its own” to assure the public that efforts to amend the Constitution is not a political, but an economic Cha-cha.

Suarez then said that if the Senate cannot shepherd the RBH 6 into passage by July, Cha-cha efforts will all be for naught.

“By July [this year], it is the budget season, so everybody in Congress will be focused on the [deliberations on the proposed] 2025 budget. That is why we are calling on our Senate colleagues to finish this at the soonest possible time,” Suarez said.

“We have a window, but the window is slowly closing. Baka kulangin na tayo sa oras [We might not have enough time.] We need this to be able to realize the President’s dream of us attaining middle-income status,” Suarez added.

“Political decision”

Senator Sonny Angara, one of the authors of RBH 6, explained that any plebiscite is "a political decision on the part of the voters."

"It’s just like choosing a candidate, you take a position on a national issue. That’s why it’s inherently political," he said.

Angara reiterated the estimated P13 billion funds that the government would save if the plebiscite and the 2025 polls are held at the same time.

"Is that not enough compelling reason? For me that’s 14 billion reasons to do it...Nakakagulat na ano pa sila, bakit humihirit pa sila sa ganon," Angara said.

"'Yan ang mahirap eh. Parang nag-set na ng direksyon si presidente, we’re following him. Sana yung iba sumunod din," he quipped.

The Senate’s RBH 6 has a House counterpart, the RBH 7.

RBH 7

The RBH 7, however, does not  categorically state that the Senate and the House of Representatives will be voting separately on proposed constitutional amendments in a constituent assembly (con-ass), with three-fourths of each chamber as threshold as provided under the 1987 Constitution.

RBH 6 expressly provides for separate voting for the House and the Senate.

The lack of specifications on voting in a con-ass has raised concerns among Senators of RBH being used as a vehicle to introduce political amendments, something that the House has repeatedly denied.

On Monday, Bataan lawmaker Geraldine Roman reiterated that Cha-cha would strictly be limited to economic provisions because for one, pushing for political amendments would spell doom.

“We are purely about economic provisions. It would be a political suicide for a politician to insert a political amendment. No politician in his or her right mind will attempt to inject political amendments, so I would like to assure our friends in the Senate, let us set aside irrational fears and trust us,” she said.

“We need to be rational, professional and efficient. We need [additional] capital [from foreign investments]. With more capital, it will foster competition and improve quality of services. And so I call on the Senators to heed their true calling to protect the interest of the Filipinos, not the interest of monopolies,” Roman added. — with Hana Bordey/BM/RSJ GMA Integrated News