Duterte: No poll suspensions, term extensions for charter change

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has allayed fears that efforts to amend the constitution will be used for him to stay in power beyond his term. 

 

“There will be no suspension of elections and there will be no term extension especially for me,” the President told MindaNews in an interview last Friday. 

 

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Jr. previously said a "no election" scenario in 2019 is possible because of the need to transition towards a new form of government. He said, however, that talk of extending the President's term, which is until June 30, 2022, is just a tactic of the political opposition.

 

"The President has clearly said his term will end on or before [2022]... If he needs to resign before 2022 to give way to the new constitution, the new system of government, he is willing to do it," Alvarez said in Filipino in a radio interview earlier this month.

 

Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III has said Duterte's term may be extended if the new constitution provides for it. 

 

Members of the opposition claim that Duterte is using charter change to establish a dictatorship. But Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque said a term extension is out of the question, even calling it the "ultimate nightmare" of the President.

Duterte said he is in favor of a unicameral form of government, believing it would make the passage of laws faster. He also reiterated that he is against the party-list system, saying the system has provided funding to anti-government demonstrations.

 

The party-list system, created to give sectoral groups representation in Congress, is not exclusive to the seven-member Makabayan bloc of lawmakers. Many party-list lawmakers like Jericho Nograles (PBA party-list), Rodante Marcoleta (1-Sagip party-list) and Shernee Abubakar Tan (Kusug Tausug party-list) are with the administration bloc.

 

Duterte is also against Alvarez' proposal to transfer the seat of government to Negros in the Visayas from Manila. 

 

"Let’s stick with the traditional. It’s not yet time for us (to transfer the seat of government)," the President said. 

 

"It entails money," he added.