MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo opposes term extension for elected officials and the no-election (“no-el”) scenario next year, which are being floated by allies of President Duterte in line with the shift to a federal system of government.

“On the issue of term extension, I think it’s appropriate that all of us who are occupying positions now should not benefit (from it or) there will always be doubt on the intention why they are pushing for (it),” she said in Filipino in her weekly program BISErbisyong Leni over dzXL.

Congress could pass a law prolonging the term of newly elected officials instead of incumbents, she said.

Robredo also strongly opposed a “no-el” scenario.

“We are against ‘no-el’ because election is the heart of our democracy,” the Vice President said, adding that “this is the only way for ordinary Filipinos to participate in the process of choosing the people who will lead them.”

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had said it is possible that midterm elections next year would be canceled should the government shift to a federal system.

For his part, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said a term extension for the President is possible to ensure a smooth transition to federalism.

Meanwhile, senators from both the majority and minority blocs are not going to be tempted by any term extension apparently being dangled by the Duterte administration to get their support for its campaign to amend the Constitution for a shift to a federal system of government.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon stressed that senators have always kept an open mind on Charter change, especially that Congress is the only one among the three branches of government allowed to write proposed constitutional reforms, but will not allow any attempt to hijack the process for selfish or even “immoral” ends such as extending the terms of sitting elected officials.

“For us senators, my reading is that we won’t allow ourselves to join in amending the Constitution to extend our terms – it won’t look good, it’s ugly and there’s obviously conflict of interest,” Drilon told dzBB.

“I believe in the decency of my colleagues in the Senate, that they will not be perceived as participating in something that is almost immoral; where you will say there’ll be no elections because you’ll benefit from it,” he said.

He said four senators from the Liberal Party (LP), to which he belongs, will also oppose any moves to extend the terms of sitting officials as part of any transition if and when the Constitution is amended to shift the present form of government to a federal system.

He said to extend the term of senators, Article VI Section 4 of the Constitution would have to be amended and only members of Congress themselves can write the proposed changes.

“They (lawmakers) will answer to the people if they cancel the elections,” Drilon said.

Pimentel said it was also possible that the term extension could include President Duterte, who is supposed to step down from office in 2022.

He, however, stressed that nothing was final yet as Charter change proposals have yet to be fully tackled by the Senate.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, a member of the majority bloc and chairman of the committee on economic affairs, said he was open to Charter change but will strongly oppose any term extension of sitting officials.

“This (offer of term extension) is what I fear. This is not a right incentive (for lawmakers to support Charter change) because that would be about selfish interests. It’s not the right motivation,” Gatchalian said.

He said Filipinos will also strongly oppose any “no-el” scenario as they want to regularly elect their officials to keep them on their toes.

Gatchalian, however, said any move to amend the Constitution must be thoroughly discussed, including the shift to a federal system.

The senator said he personally wants economic provisions of the Constitution to be amended first.

“But we’re open to ideas. We won’t know if we don’t talk about (federalism),” Gatchalian said.

Drilon and Gatchalian agreed that Alvarez’s timetable of having a plebiscite on the new Constitution to coincide with the barangay elections this May was next to impossible.

Gatchalian said discussions in Congress on amending the Constitution would take one year at the very least, adding that he believes the best Charter change mode would be a constitutional convention (con-con), where the people will elect delegates to write the draft amendments independent of Congress.

Drilon, meanwhile, said before the actual amendments are to be discussed, both chambers will have to debate first on the mode of amending the Constitution.

Aside from con-con, the Constitution also mentions the convening of a constituent assembly (con-ass) where the Senate and the House of Representative convene as one Charter-amending body.

Alvarez and other House leaders prefer the con-ass mode but Drilon said such could be self-serving.

Drilon also renewed his call to Pimentel to defend the Senate, which he said was being maligned by Alvarez as part of efforts to abolish the chamber.

Pimentel, however, expressed his irritation at Drilon’s call, saying he already defended the Senate from Alvarez’s claims that it was “too slow” in acting on bills long approved by the House.

“Why does (Drilon) want me to continue a word war with the Speaker? He belongs to LP while the Speaker and I belong to PDP-Laban, hence why should I do that?” Pimentel told reporters.

Drilon warned of deliberate efforts to weaken the Senate in order to lay the groundwork for the abolition of the chamber and pave the way for a unilateral system of legislature.

“I am very alarmed and concerned about this continued attack on the Senate. It appears to be part of deliberate and sustained efforts to weaken and embarrass the Senate as an institution,” he said, referring to complaints from House leaders.

“For me, these attacks are meant to demean the Senate in order to lay the groundwork for the abolition of the senate and pave the way for a unilateral Congress,” he added. – With Paolo Romero