Barely two months before the filing of certificate of candidacy, Malacañang assured the public that the 2019 midterm elections would push through despite moves to ratify the 1987 Constitution for a shift to federalism.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said he could not see any hint that next year’s elections would be canceled.
“Tuloy na tuloy po ang halalan,“ Roque said in an ambush interview in Lipa City, Batangas.
(The elections will really push through)
“Ang Presidente po napakatagal na sa pulitika at naniniwala po siya sa demokrasya. Naniniwala po siya sa eleksyon,” he added.
(The President has been in politics for a long time. He believes in democracy. He believes in elections.)
Talks had it that the 2019 elections would be canceled after former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a staunch ally of President Duterte, said it was “practical” to suspend the midterm elections to give way to the country’s shift to a federal form of government.
READ: Alvarez: ‘No-el’ in 2019 practical to speed up federal shift
Malacanang has repeatedly said that the 2019 midterm elections would push through unless the proposed new Charter is ratified before the May 2019 elections.
The country’s lawmakers have expressed apprehension that Charter change would be passed before next year’s elections.
Former president and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has said that there was no longer enough time to pass Charter change in her remaining term.
Arroyo, who was elected House Speaker on July 23, would end her term in June 2019.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III also said the proposed shift to a federal government was not a priority of the Senate.
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Charter change would be cremated once it reaches the upper chamber.