Zubiri: Economic Cha-cha may face ‘problem,’ ‘challenge’ in Senate

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he personally told President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that passing proposed amendments to the Constitution may face a problem and is, in fact, a challenge in the upper chamber.

In a press conference, Zubiri maintained that he did not ask Marcos’ help to convince senators who are against economic Charter change (Cha-cha).

“I just mentioned to him that there may be a problem. I didn’t ask his help because amendments to the Constitution [are] solely the prerogative of Congress. We did not ask for his help because it’s more of an independent issue by Congress and Senate,” Zubiri told reporters.

The Senate is currently leading talks on economic Cha-cha under Marcos’ directive.

READ: More reforms needed to unlock full benefits of Cha-cha

Marcos earlier stressed the need to ease restrictive provisions of the Constitution to allow more foreign direct investments in the Philippines.

While he admitted that the fresh Cha-cha bid in the Senate remains a challenge, Zubiri noted that it’s still possible that the upper chamber may gather 18 votes to pass Resolution of Both Houses No. 6.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible. It’s still in the realm of possibilities — we could still get 18 votes, but at this point in time, it’s a challenge. We work on that challenge one step at a time,” he said.

“There are still a majority of senators that are okay with the economic provisions, [but] there’s that concern that it might trigger a ‘voting as one’ issue — so we’re trying to fix it now. Again, as I’ve said, it’s a challenge,” Zubiri added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said earlier that she was “very hopeful” that the Senate minority bloc would gather enough votes to turn down the fresh Cha-cha bid.

Hontiveros and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III only need seven votes to block the Cha-cha initiative in the upper chamber.