Comelec rules out Cha-cha plebiscite with 2025 polls

MANILA, Philippines — A synchronized plebiscite to amend any provision of the 1987 Constitution cannot be done together with the May 2025 midterm polls, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said yesterday.

According to Garcia, a direct amendment to the Constitution such as adding a phrase “as provided for by law” or changing a provision on land ownership requires a separate and single plebiscite “so that people can focus on whether they should allow such amendment or not.”

Garcia also noted that a previous Supreme Court ruling prohibited the holding of a regular election simultaneous with a national plebiscite. 

“I hope (they) will be able to review a Supreme Court ruling … The Supreme Court says in that case that you cannot include a plebiscite for the amendment of the Constitution and regular elections,” he said in a television interview.

Garcia explained that the high court ruling emphasized the need for voters to focus on choosing a leader during regular elections.

“If it is amendment, focus on the amendment, if it is elections, focus on the elections simply because you are not amending a simple law, you are amending the Constitution, the very heart of our democratic processes,” the poll chief pointed out.

Garcia said there are three modes to amend the Constitution – constitutional convention, constituent assembly and people’s initiative – all of which end in a plebiscite.

The plebiscite is required, he said, because the people have to be consulted on whether or not they will allow a particular amendment.

In case the constitutional assembly can pass an amendment before the end of the year, Garcia said the Comelec still cannot conduct a plebiscite between two scheduled elections in 2025.

“I would like to announce, we cannot hold such a plebiscite in 2025, the most that we can hold that is in 2026,” he said, noting that the poll body cannot squeeze a plebiscite between two national elections.

By the last quarter of 2024, Garcia said the Comelec would already be at the peak of preparations for the May 2025 midterm polls.

“If you are to conduct a national plebiscite, there is a lot of logistical problems, because you will not only consult