Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo has joined a chorus of opposition to a possible cancellation of mid-term elections and extensions to terms in office, including that of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, amid a renewed push for a shift to federalism.
Duterte is keen to follow through on his election campaign promise to introduce federalism, which he has said would be more equitable for Filipinos and would bring peace and development, especially in the country’s restive south.
Philippine House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, an ally of Duterte, has said it was possible that mid-term elections in May next year would be cancelled if proposed constitutional amendments to introduce federalism pass a plebiscite this year.
However, the no-election scenario has not sat well among Duterte’s critics, who also expressed concern that changing the constitution could see him prolong his stay in power beyond the end of his term in 2022.
Philippine presidents are allowed to serve one term only, lasting six years.
Robredo, who was not Duterte’s running mate, comes from an opposition party and has clashed with him on numerous occasions
She said it was “self-serving” if moves were made to extend terms of incumbent executives.
“We are very much against this no-election proposal because holding elections sums up democracy,” Robredo said during her weekly radio program on Sunday. “This is the only way for ordinary Filipinos to participate in the process of choosing who should lead them.”
Filipinos are due to elect 12 senators, about 300 members of congress and thousands of local government officials in next year’s elections.
Alvarez said the house planned to convene as a constituent assembly early this year to tackle constitutional amendments, including the shift to federalism.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that Duterte has no intention to prolong his stay in power and is even willing to cut short his term.
“He’s willing to let go because he’s not keen really on staying [longer] as president. That’s the truth,” Roque told CNN Philippines yesterday.
However, lawyer Christian Monsod, who helped design the country’s 1987 constitution, questioned the motives of the pro-Duterte camp in the Philippine Congress.
“Is it really necessary to change the constitution?” he told news channel ANC. “My bet is it would be amended, revised to suit the interests of the clans and dynasties in Congress.”
A string of rape and assault allegations against the son of Norway’s future queen have plunged the royal family into its “biggest scandal” ever, wrapping up an annus horribilis for the monarchy. The legal troubles surrounding Marius Borg Hoiby, the 27-year-old son born of a relationship before Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s marriage to Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, have dominated the Scandinavian country’s headlines since August. The tall strapping blond with a “bad boy” look — often photographed in tuxedos, slicked back hair, earrings and tattoos — was arrested in Oslo on Aug. 4 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the previous night. A photograph
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
The US deployed a reconnaissance aircraft while Japan and the Philippines sent navy ships in a joint patrol in the disputed South China Sea yesterday, two days after the allied forces condemned actions by China Coast Guard vessels against Philippine patrol ships. The US Indo-Pacific Command said the joint patrol was conducted in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone by allies and partners to “uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight “ and “other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace.” Those phrases are used by the US, Japan and the Philippines to oppose China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the
‘KAMPAI’: It is said that people in Japan began brewing rice about 2,000 years ago, with a third-century Chinese chronicle describing the Japanese as fond of alcohol Traditional Japanese knowledge and skills used in the production of sake and shochu distilled spirits were approved on Wednesday for addition to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, a committee of the UN cultural body said It is believed people in the archipelago began brewing rice in a simple way about two millennia ago, with a third-century Chinese chronicle describing the Japanese as fond of alcohol. By about 1000 AD, the imperial palace had a department to supervise the manufacturing of sake and its use in rituals, the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association said. The multi-staged brewing techniques still used today are
RSS