EDITORIAL - Self-serving

In every attempt in the past to amend the Constitution, one issue that doomed the effort was the public’s concern that it was meant chiefly to keep certain officials in power beyond their term.

This concern is again being revived in the latest effort as congressional leaders raise the possibility of scrapping the midterm elections next year ostensibly so the legislature can focus on rewriting the Constitution for the proposed shift to a federal system of government.

President Duterte at least is sensitive to this public concern. Earlier this week he moved quickly to allay the fears amid reports that the proposed federal charter contained a provision allowing him to seek reelection after his term ends in 2022. The reports said that in all, he could get eight more years at Malacañang.

Palace officials said the President ordered the consultative committee or Concom to delete the provision and ensure that he would be barred from reelection. For good measure, he promised to step down during the transition to a federal system, and said he wanted the head of the transition government to be elected.

Discussing the transition at this point appears premature as the two chambers of Congress may not even agree on the manner of voting if ever the legislature convenes into a constituent assembly. Senators are vehemently opposed to joint voting, which would render the voice of the chamber irrelevant in the face of the overwhelming number of the super majority in the House of Representatives.

Regardless of the manner of congressional voting, Charter change and federalism proponents will need public support for this shift in the system of government. Even a key member of the Concom, former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr., the principal author of the law that devolved powers to local government units, has warned that postponing the 2019 elections to make way for Cha-cha would invite a public backlash against federalism.

Surveys have already indicated little public knowledge of and interest in a federal system, which could bolster Cha-cha opponents’ argument that the country does not need a change in the system of government. “No-el” in 2019 is inevitably stoking suspicions that this effort is just another self-serving initiative on the part of politicians. It can only strengthen public resistance to Cha-cha for federalism. If proponents of the shift want their initiative to succeed, they should quickly abandon the “no-el” scenario.