BBM: Cha-cha plebiscite before 2025 polls costly

Holding the Charter change plebiscite before the 2025 elections will be “very costly” and hard, President Marcos said yesterday, as he confirmed that he prefers the referendum to be conducted alongside the May 2025 midterm polls.

- ALEXIS ROMERO

Marcos said holding the plebiscite on the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution simultaneously with next year’s midterm elections is being studied carefully as it would mean huge savings for government.

“If we separate the election and the plebiscite, it is like holding two elections, which is very costly,” the President told reporters at Villamor Air Base in Pasay before leaving for Australia.

“It really comes down to a practical thing... because a plebiscite is also an election. So you will hold an election and then hold a plebiscite – it’s very hard also to have a plebiscite before the election because it will jeopardize the preparations for the polls,” Marcos said.

On Monday, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Marcos had informed senators that he wanted the plebiscite on the proposed Charter changes to be held simultaneously with the 2025 elections.

Zubiri, whose chamber was initially cool to Charter amendments, quoted Marcos as saying that holding the referendum before the May 2025 polls would require the government to spend P12 billion to P14 billion.

The House of Representatives, which is dominated by Marcos’ allies, is aiming for a plebiscite by July this year. The chamber is also seeking to approve the amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution before the Holy Week break on March 22.

Despite Zubiri’s statement, administration lawmakers stood by their timetable last Tuesday, preferring to hear Marcos’ stance on the matter directly from him.

Asked to react to the House’s timetable, Marcos said he would talk to Speaker Martin Romualdez about it.