Drilon: LP meet to clarify if Aquino not keen on 2nd term

MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Franklin Drilon on Thursday said President Aquino was not interested in a second term.

Drilon, a member of the Liberal Party (LP) executive committee, endorsed a party meeting on Tuesday suggested by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to clarify what Mr. Aquino meant when he said “he was not really interested in a second term.”

The LP will hold the special meeting at its “Balay” headquarters to tackle Charter change (Cha-cha) initiatives.

Senate President Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Other politicians, such as Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has indicated his intention to run for President, frowned on moves to amend the Constitution to allow Aquino to seek another term.

Binay said prodding the President to support Cha-cha so he could extend his term would endanger democracy in the country.

A proposal for Aquino to run for another term drew the support of at least one person close to Malacañang.

PSG chaplain

Msgr. Daniel Tansip, chaplain of the Presidential Security Group (PSG), said he wanted the President to prolong his public service and sustain the reforms begun under his administration.

“Our loved ones who have gone ahead of us are happy and joyful in heaven when they see us here on earth helping and contributing our efforts to make other lives better,” Tansip said.

In a homily during Mass marking the 31st anniversary of the murder of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino in 1983, Tansip spoke of the need to “make the lives of our countrymen better by moving forward in  the right direction—the straight path.”

Tansip added that if he were to be followed, “I wish the public service of our beloved President would not end so that what has begun as an effort to follow the straight path would continue.”

‘Ninoy would be proud’

It was not clear how Aquino reacted to Tansip’s homily. Reporters could not see him well from the media box set up at Manila Memorial Park, where the anniversary rites were held.

Tansip said: “Whenever there is a death anniversary, it is good to find time to spend quietly at the grave of our loved one because this teaches us something. A priest once said the ones who can best teach us how to face the challenges in our lives are our departed loved ones because they have already conquered life’s challenges.”

“Perhaps if Sir Ninoy were alive today, he would be very, very proud of his son—especially because he has begun so many changes toward the straight path,” the priest added.

Drilon disagreed.

“He is not interested in amending the Constitution during his term, so we should end all this talk,” Drilon said.

Aquino’s father was shot dead on his return from the United States in 1983, planting the seeds of the Edsa People Power Revolution that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Aquino-Roxas ticket

Should the Cha-cha efforts  succeed in lifting term limits, the LP is expected to field an Aquino-Roxas ticket in 2016, the same tandem it fielded in 2010.

Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice said the special meeting would be the first time the LP would tackle the Cha-cha political reforms which have divided its leaders.

“We cannot avoid but address the President’s Cha-cha wishes in the meeting,” Erice said in a phone interview.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said he expected Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to attend the Balay meeting. Both Drilon and Belmonte have opposed any move to lift term limits but backed a Cha-cha initiative limited to economic reforms.

Democracy in peril

Binay on Thursday said forces prodding Aquino to amend the Constitution and extend his term were putting democracy in the country in peril.

“I urge all of you who have been comrades in the struggle against the (Marcos) dictatorship to be active in stopping this insidious plan clad in the guise of good intentions,” Binay said in a speech to mark the elder Aquino’s martyrdom.

“This, I believe, is how we can best protect the legacy of Ninoy Aquino and ensure that our struggle to bring back a working democracy that serves the interests of the people, and not of a selfish few, will not be in vain,” he said.

Importance of democracy

It was the third time in recent days that Binay, who has declared his bid to run for President, spoke out against moves to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Binay attended Thursday’s commemoration of Ninoy Aquino’s death anniversary organized by the Ninoy Aquino Movement (NAM), which was held at the airport tarmac, where the senator was gunned down.

Binay was awarded the Medal of Valor by NAM for his role in fighting the Marcos dictatorship.

In his speech, Binay underscored the importance of democracy in the country and the need for its leaders to “nurture” it.

“Now, our democracy is again facing danger because of those wanting to stay in power after 2016  who are pushing for the President to allow Charter amendments to remove term limits … and reduce the power of the Supreme Court,” Binay said.

Insurance vs dictatorship

Binay made it clear the Constitution granted the judiciary powers to prevent a repeat of a  dictatorship.

“Such power is our insurance against the threat of another dictatorship and the ensuing encroachment upon our liberties,” he said.

Binay said he was certain he was “not alone in the view that we must never allow partisan inclinations to erode the institutions that guarantee our freedoms.”

To reporters, the Vice President insisted that there were many people pushing Aquino to extend his term and this would be a “sad” thing if this would happen.

Even allies are against it

Both allies and critics of Aquino oppose moves to extend the President’s six-year term.

Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor of the LP said removing the constitutional provision prohibiting the reelection of a President would be contrary to what the President’s parents, Ninoy Aquino and the late President Cory Aquino, would have wanted.

“I believe that Ninoy Aquino would not have wanted (reelection) to prevent a President from using the first term to campaign for a second term,” Defensor said.

Speaking in Cebu City, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares called the President “the exact opposite” of his father.

“While his father was antidictatorship, he is exercising his dictatorial tendency on other branches of government,” Colmenares said.

Judicial overreach

The congressman also hit Aquino’s openness to amending the Constitution to stop the Supreme Court’s “judicial overreach” in the light of the court’s ruling against the Disbursement Acceleration Program.

“There is no judicial overreach. There is only presidential overreach,” Colmenares said.–With reports from Nestor P. Burgos Jr. and Carmel Loise Matus, Inquirer Visayas