Puno: Duterte cannot seek reelection or extend term

President Rodrigo Duterte cannot seek reelection nor extend his term even if a new Constitution providing for a federal form of government is passed before he steps down in 2022.

According to former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who heads the 20-member consultative committee tasked to propose Charter amendments, the six-year term limit imposed by the 1987 Constitution would still apply to Duterte even if the country transitions to a federal system during his term.

“As of now the prohibitions and term limits under the 1987 Constitution would still be binding,” Puno said in news briefing on Monday.

Crafted after the Edsa People Power Revolution that ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the 1987 Constitution limits the President and Vice President to a single six-year term with no reelection.

The consultative committee has not yet tackled the terms of office for elected officials in the proposed system. —Dona Z. Pazzibugan