Marcos eyeing 2025 public vote to amend Philippine Constitution

MANILA – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said a plebiscite on a plan to amend the South-east Asian country’s nearly 40-year old Constitution may be held along with the mid-term elections in 2025.

Conducting the two polls separately would be costly, Mr Marcos told reporters in Manila on Feb 28 before he departed for an official visit to Australia.

“If we hold the plebiscite together with the local elections in May next year, that will mean big savings for us. We are studying it closely,” he said.

Mr Marcos is pushing to revise the 1987 Constitution,

seeking changes in economic provisions to attract more foreign investments

and spur one of Asia’s fastest growing economies.

The House of Representatives, led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, Mr Marcos’s cousin who is supporting the plan, began deliberations this week on the proposed changes.

Any revision to the Constitution will need to undergo a public vote via a plebiscite and must secure majority support.

The

President’s plan has drawn opposition

, including from former president Rodrigo Duterte.

He has accused Mr Marcos of seeking to prolong his term, which is limited to six years under the present charter.

Mr Marcos has said the Constitution – which was ratified after his late dictator-father’s ouster in 1986 – “was not written for a globalised world” and needs to be adjusted to spur economic activity. BLOOMBERG