‘Cha-cha can be an election issue’

MANILA, Philippines — The proposal to amend the 1987 Constitution could become an issue in the 2025 elections, and the Marcos administration could support 12 senatorial candidates who are pro-Charter change, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said yesterday.

Five senators have been vocal against amending the 1987 Constitution, with four others hinting at their opposition. Despite this, Zubiri said he is “not losing hope” on the controversial proposal.

Zubiri said Senators Cynthia Villar, Imee Marcos, Francis Escudero, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Sen. Risa Hontiveros have expressed their opposition to the Cha-cha proposal.

“Basically, I’m not losing hope because I also believe that there should be constitutional reform, but we have to be practical about it,” Zubiri said in an interview over dwPM Radyo 630.

“That’s already five, and we need 18 votes (out of the 24 senators). The others, I’m not at liberty to name them as they haven’t spoken in public, but they’ve been very… vocal (against it) within senators’ caucus,” he added.

When asked whether the Senate would calendar and put Cha-cha to a vote to let the public know the respective positions of each senator, Zubiri said they would still discuss the matter in a caucus set today at the resumption of Congress session.

Hearings in Baguio, Cebu and CDO

Despite the lack of numbers in the Senate, and a Pulse Asia survey indicating 88 percent of Filipinos are against Cha-cha, Zubiri said the Senate is poised to bring the discussion to Baguio, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.

“We have set three more hearings. Our plan is one hearing in Baguio, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro. Because we want to hear the pulse of the people, not just our experts, because the style of hearing here on constitutional change is always the experts, from the academics, and it’s only done here in Metro Manila,” he said.