No elections in 2019? Vice President Leni Robredo is not having it.
During her weekly show Bisersbisyong Leni on radio station RMN-dzXL 558 yesterday, Robredo spoke out against the idea of canceling the 2019 midterm elections should the proposal to shift the Philippines to a federal form of government be approved.
The midterm elections are held for positions in the Senate, House of Representatives, and lower government units every three years.
“It’s the only way for the ordinary Filipino to take part in the process where he will choose who leads him,” she said.
For Robredo, canceling the elections seems “self-serving”; she also thinks the move might rub people the wrong way. “It’s as if all we want is to prolong the power given to us,” she said.
Robredo’s comment is a response to the some lawmakers’ statements saying that canceling the elections may be necessary to help the government in its transition.
Last Wednesday, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez brought up this possibility during an interview on the ANC show Headstart.
“I have to be frank, anything is possible. You know why? Let’s be practical. If you shift to a new system of government, you need a transition. You cannot implement it immediately after it is ratified,” he said.
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also said that it may be necessary to cancel the presidential elections in 2022 to extend President Rodrigo Duterte’s term for the same reason. However, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied any plans for a term extension.
Some fear that the charter change is just Duterte’s way to hold on to power.
The Philippines is currently under a unitary form of government, but one of Duterte’s major projects is to shift to federalism. The administration believes that doing so will bring more focus and spending to parts of the Philippines that are currently neglected in favor of the capital Manila.
Although the Senate and House of Representatives are scheduled to discuss the charter change in a constituent assembly later in the month, Minority Leader Senator Franklin Drilon said that the upper house and lower house should vote on it separately.
He said that the declaration of martial law in Mindanao last May should “serve as an example of how the Senate’s power could be reduced to nothing if joint voting is followed.”
A majority of both the Senate and House of Representatives are Duterte supporters. But Robredo, who in the 2016 elections ran alongside Duterte’s opponent Mar Roxas, has criticized the administration numerous times, especially when it comes to the controversial war on drugs that has seen thousands killed.
