Senator Franklin Drilon
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon warned on Saturday that the purpose of the proposed Charter change being pushed by the current administration could be to suspend the 2019 elections.
Drilon, member of opposition Liberal Party, stressed that the “no election” scenario is only possible with a corresponding law.
“Hindi pwedeng mawala ang halalan kung walang batas. Kaya ipipilit po ‘yan na magkaroon ng batas postponing the election in May 2019,” he told DWIZ.
(It is not possible to remove the holding of elections without the correspnding law. That is why this is being pushed so that there will be a law postponing the elections in May 2019.)
Drilon noted that the term of government officials elected in 2016 would end on June 30, 2019.
“Anong mangyayari [pagkatapos]? Lahat po ‘yan [government posts], i-a-apoint ng Presidente,” he said.
(What will happen next? All of these government posts, the President will appoint.)
“Ito po ay ang sinasabi, ang purpose po nito [Cha-cha] ay talagang no election,” he added.
(This is what it says, that the purpose of this Cha-cha is “no election.”)
READ: No term extension for Duterte — Roque
The senator also raised doubts on the timing of the proposal to shift the form of government into federal system, citing a recent survey that showed the people’s pulse on federalism.
Drilon was apparently referring to a SWS’s survey released last June, showing that 75 percent of Filipinos are not aware of the proposed government system.
READ: Federal system what? 75% of Filipinos not aware – SWS survey
“Kailangan ba natin na baguhin ang saligang batas ngayon? (Do we need to amend the Constitution now?” Drilon asked.
He added that instead of Charter change, there are issues that also need attention of the government.
“Maraming naghihirap (Many people suffer from poverty). These are the issues that unite rather than issues that divide,” Drilon said.
“Siguro sa tingin ng taong bayan, eto muna ang dapat nating tugunan rather than amending the Constitution,” he said.
(Maybe our countrymen think we should deal with these issues first rather than amending the Constitution.) /jpv
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