Palace hands-off on calls to ‘re-elect’ Aquino
Screengrab from Noynoy Aquino fanpage
MANILA, Philippines – Despite being prohibited by the Philippines Constitution, some netizens are calling for the re-election of President Benigno Aquino III.
Reminding the public of the constitutional ban on re-election of presidents, Malacañang on Sunday said it had no hand in the said campaign.
“Unang-una po ay malinaw ang sinasabi sa ating Konstitusyon na ang bawat halal na Pangulo ay mayroon lamang iisang anim na taon na termino. Kaya kahit na ano man po ang sabihin nila, ang Saligang Batas po natin ang iiral hinggil diyan,” Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said over the radio.
(First of all, the constitution clearly states that a president only has one six-year term. The constitution will always prevail.)
He said Filipinos should respect the Philippine Constitution.
“Wala po kaming kinalaman sa pagpapahayag na ganyan. ‘Yan po ay spontaneous at natural na pagpapahayag ng saloobin,” he added.
(We had nothing to do with such claims. That is just a spontaneous and natural expression of their feelings.)
On Aquino’s Facebook Page, which has 4 million followers, supporters have been posting messages and photos bearing the words “ One More Term” and “Re-Elect Pnoy for 2016.”
Coloma, however, said that such calls were not surprising because of the nature of social media.
“Wala naman pong kumokontrol niyan. Kaya sa kabila ng mga pahayag na ’yan, ang ipapaalala lang po natin sa kanila ay ‘yung probisyon ng Saligang Batas hinggil sa iisang termino lang na anim na taon, at doon naman po ang puno at dulo ng lahat ng usapin hinggil diyan,” he said.
(No one has control over social media. So despite such calls, we would just have to remind the public of the constitutional provision that a president only has one term consisting of six years, and that is where that discussion should end.)
Aquino has lately been receiving flak for various issues, especially the Disbursement Acceleration Program. But while his performance ratings have been on a decline, Aquino’s followers have also started drumming up support for the beleaguered president.
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