Belmonte surprised Marcos activist Binay wants term extension

Speaker Sonny Belmonte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Friday said he was surprised Vice President Jejomar Binay wanted term extension even when he was a human rights lawyer under the Marcos administration.

In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Belmonte said he found it unbelievable that Binay wanted to amend the Constitution to allow term extension, even though he was an activist against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the country for two decades before he was ousted in a peaceful uprising.

“First the rich and powerful families will monopolize power and positions. Hard to believe coming from an anti-Marcos lawyer,” Belmonte, a Liberal Party vice chair, said.

Then again, Belmonte said the 30 years Binay family ruled Makati could change the Vice President’s sentiments about governance.

“30 years in power can affect one’s outlook,” Belmonte said.

Binay, then an activist, was detained during martial law for defending political prisoners.

In an address to local officials in Bacolod City on Thursday, Binay said an official should be allowed to run several times as long as he or she got the voters’ support.

“Itong term na ito ’di talaga ako naniniwala d’yan. Kailangan one to sawa ’yan, hangga’t gusto ng tao. Kaya kung meron amendments sa Constitution, ipapaalis ko ’yung term limitation. Hangga’t maaari, iboto nang iboto,” said Binay, who served as Makati mayor for 20 years from 1988 to 1998 and 2001 to 2010 before he was elected Vice President.

The 1987 Constitution states that the President is not eligible for reelection after a six-year term. It also says the Vice President is not eligible to run for more than two successive terms.

Binay later clarified he only wanted term extension for local officials.

For his part, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, president of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, refused to comment, saying he had yet to talk to the Vice President.

Binay had expressed his intention to run for president in 2016 amid allegations of corruption and rigged bidding in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II and Makati Science High School building when he was mayor.

Binay is also bracing himself for the outcome of a series of negotiations between President Benigno Aquino III and his supposed choices for successor in 2016: The unpopular Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the neophyte but popular Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero.