Rodriguez sees need for ‘anti-balimbing’ provision in Constitution

MANILA, Philippines —  Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Tuesday recognized the need for an anti-turncoatism provision in the country’s Constitution, saying there are a lot of “balimbings” (turncoats) in Philippine politics.

“Balimbing” is a common term used by Filipinos to describe someone who easily changes sides. In Philippine politics, the term refer to politicians who easily transfer from one political party to another—usually to the dominant political party following an election.

“Certainly, anti-turncoatism is also needed by our country because there are so many balimbings in the political scene,” Rodriguez, who chairs the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, told reporters in Quezon City.

“So this hopes to change the landscape to be better, strengthen political parties by staying with the parties—the visions, the programs of your party,” he added.

Rodriguez made the remark after his panel deliberated on the proposed constitutional amendments of the Constitutional Reform (CoRe) Movement and the Department of Interior and Local Government-Inter-agency Task Force on Federalism and Constitutional Reform (DILG-IATF).

Among the proposed amendments is a provision on anti-turncoatism, which is a part of the political and electoral reforms pushed by CoRe and the DILG-IATF.

“Political butterflies and the political parties that accepted them will be subject to heavy penalties,” a document provided by the task force states.

If a venue can be secured, a briefing will be held on Tuesday, February 4, where CoRe and DILG-IATF will brief all members of the House of Representatives on their proposed amendments.

After this, another hearing will be held to further discuss the proposed amendments of CoRe and the DILG-IATF before the House panel decides which of their proposals would be incorporated into the panel’s committee report.

“We can then go into the plenary as a constituent assembly on the final proposals for the constitution,” Rodriguez said.

“Probably before March 11, we are able to already have an agreement on what will be the proposed amendments so when we come back on May 3, it might already be subject to the constituent assembly for plenary debate,” the lawmaker added.

Edited by MUF