MANILA (Agenzia Fides): The Catholic Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting [PPCRV] expressed concern about the proposal to hold a referendum on proposed amendments [charter change] to the Philippine Constitution, along with the 2025 midterm elections.
“It is necessary to ensure that the voting process is as simple as possible, as possible double voting could lead to longer voting times, longer queues and possible disenfranchisement,” said the council, which acts as an independent election observer.
Incumbent president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. confirmed that his government intends to hold a referendum to ratify the constitutional amendments—after possible approval by Congress—at the same time as the mid-term elections on 12 May 2025, speaking of an “economically advantageous operation”.
Marcos Jr. insisted that holding the votes for mid-terms and charter change together would save the state treasury money and is therefore desirable “for practical reasons.”
In the ongoing debate, several Catholic institutions, associations and bishops spoke out, generally recalling the importance of the Constitution adopted by the Philippine Congress in 1987 after the years of martial law under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the father of the current president.
“Charter change manoeuvres, largely through popular initiative are a constant political event. Apparently, this is becoming a bad political habit in the country,” said an editorial published in the CBCP Monitor, a newspaper of the Philippine Bishops’ Conference.
“The aim was supposedly to improve the lives of Filipinos, but now there is an apparent desire to discredit the 1987 Constitution and demonise the EDSA popular revolution of 1986,” which led to the overthrow of Marcos Sr., the editorial warned.
The groups fear that the plan to amend the Constitution in order to “adapt it to international economic globalization”, as per the justification of its supporters, conceals ulterior that align with the political agenda of individuals, dynasties, or power groups.
There are various drafts for the revision process that, for example, affect the responsibilities of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The 24-member Senate does not want to vote together with the more than 300 members of the House of Representatives because the senators would then have little say. The adopted changes would then have to be submitted to the people for a vote.
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Meanwhile, after an initial negative opinion, the Election Commission of the Philippines, which is supposed to be constitutionally independent of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, said it sees no obstacle to holding both votes in a single round.
However, former chief justice, Hilario Davide Jr., said: “I will not hesitate to repeat that amending or revising the Constitution at this time would be a deadly experiment, a fatal blow, a plunge into death.”
Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan and head of Caritas Philippines, was reported by CBCP News as saying the Catholic bishops are not letting their guards down against what he called ‘underground works’ for charter change through a supposed “people’s initiative”.
The bishop said during a rally on February 21, “We are still concerned because we are not sure of the strength of the underground works and they might give value to what is called ‘fake’ people’s initiative.”
Several priests and nuns, including Bishop Emeritus Deogracias Iñiguez of Kalookan and former chairman of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, were also seen at the rally held at Plaza Roma, right in front of the Palacio del Gobernador where the main office of the Commission on Elections is located.
Bishop Bagaforo called on the faithful not to allow lawmakers to revise the Constitution without proper consultation and full transparency.
“There are many doubts because there is no transparency. What are their true intentions?” the bishop asked.
“We pray that our leaders will not be led into the temptation of changing the Constitution for power and riches but instead be steadfast in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities as servant-leaders of the people,” he also said.
