No Marcos directive to amend Constitution – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.  has not issued a directive nor hinted at any bid to amend the Philippine Constitution, according to Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace press officer Claire Castro. 

At a Friday palace press briefing, Castro was asked to detail whether Marcos had already directed the Senate and Congress to act on Charter change. 

This was after Vice President Sara Duterte’s supposed warning to the public, claiming that Marcos planned to amend the constitution. 

“Wala pa po tayong nadidinig mula sa Pangulo kaya nagtataka po tayo kung bakit naging ganito po ang naging turan ni Bise Presidente. Sa ngayon po tatak fake news yan — walang ebidensya. Wala pa pong napag uusapan po,” said Castro.

(We haven’t heard anything from the President yet, so we’re wondering why the Vice President’s statement turned out like this. Right now, it’s labeled as fake news — there’s no evidence. Nothing has been discussed yet.)

Asked if the Marcos administration still plans to push for Charter change in the next congress, Castro said they have yet to discuss the matter.

At this point, the Palace officer was prodded to explain why the Vice President had opened this topic during a campaign sortie, to which she answered that she had no idea. 

“Kung ano man po ang kanyang adhikain at layunin sa mga ganitong klase ng pananalita, hindi po natin alam. Pero as far as we are concerned, tatak fake news yan,” she said. 

(Whatever her goals are with these kinds of statements, we don’t know. But as far as we are concerned, it’s just fake news.)

Earlier, President Marcos requested the upper chamber to review the proposals to amend certain provisions of the Constitution.

Marcos saw the need to ease the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions to allow more foreign direct investment in the country.