‘With Cha-cha, ex-presidents may seek reelection’

MANILA, Philippines - Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as well as other former presidents could again seek the presidency if the Constitution is amended to allow another term for President Aquino.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said yesterday that an amendment to the Constitution should enable previous presidents to seek reelection.

“If an amendment is made allowing Aquino to seek reelection, such amendment should be worded in such a way that all previous presidents, like Presidents Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, could likewise seek reelection,” Macalintal stressed.

When the term of the President is amended, Macalintal said, nothing would prevent similar amendments to lengthen the terms of office of congressmen, governors and mayors, and even barangay officials, from their present three-year term to four years or longer.

According to Macalintal, extending the terms of elected officials is tantamount to saying no elections.

“Since their term would be merely extended, it means there will be no elections,” Macalintal noted.

He, however, stressed that extending the term of elected officials is not allowed under the democratic system of government.

“An extension of term of office of an elected official is undemocratic and therefore not allowed under our Constitution,” Macalintal pointed out.

Thus, he said, to amend the Constitution to extend the term of office of an elective official is a clear circumvention of the democratic system.  

“Elected leaders could legally and morally justify their reign only by obtaining the voluntary consent of the electorate,” Macalintal said, citing a 1994 Supreme Court ruling.

“Any elective official whose term of office is expiring has to seek another mandate, if still allowed by the Constitution, and cannot ask for an ‘extension’ of his term of office. If re-elected, he gets his mandate through the ballots and not by virtue of an extended tenure in office,” he added.

Financial constraints

Macalintal said any plan to amend the Constitution to allow reelection of previous presidents in the 2016 elections is unlikely to prosper due to budgetary constraints.

Any constitutional amendment would require P10 billion for a nationwide campaign and plebiscite for its ratification by the entire electorate.

“The 2015 budget does not include any appropriation for such a political exercise, hence, the legal and political impossibility of Presidents Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo to join in the 2016 presidential polls,” Macalintal said. 

Estrada had  made another run for the presidency in 2010 but lost to Aquino. Estrada’s term at the palace was cut short by a popular uprising after an aborted impeachment trial in 2001.

‘Honor parents’ legacy’

Meanwhile, preacher and former Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. appealed yesterday to President Aquino to honor the memory and legacy of his parents by categorically and unequivocally declaring that he would not seek a second term.

“Heroes like Ninoy and Cory believe in true people empowerment,” he said, referring to Aquino’s late parents, former President Corazon Aquino and former senator Benigno Aquino Jr.

“They knew that reforming a nation is the task of everyone. They were never so drunk with power as to think that change is impossible without them at the helm of leadership. It would be best for the President to follow their example,” he said.

He said Mrs. Aquino faced the same predicament as her son.

“But she stayed the course. She took the moral high ground. She chose not to mobilize Congress to allow her a second term, even if her allies constituted the majority. She too could have said that it was the will of her ‘bosses’ the people, but she did not,” Abante added.

He recalled that Mrs. Aquino refused calls for her to extend her term via Charter change (Cha-cha).

The President dangled the possibility that he might seek a second term to preserve his administration’s reforms during a recent television interview.

He said he was elected to a single six-year term but that he would like to hear the collective voice of his bosses the people if they want him to stay on.

His statement prompted some of his congressional allies to launch a political Cha-cha initiative to lift the single term limit for the President, an effort that the group of Vice President Jejomar Binay sees as a conspiracy to derail Binay’s presidential ambition.

Most Aquino allies are confused by his statement and are seeking a meeting with him.

Despite appeals for “political clarity,” the President has chosen to keep quiet, leaving his spokespersons to speak for him.

The spokespersons have not been of much help. On the contrary, they further added to the confusion, with one floating the possibility of no-el (no elections) only to retract it as soon as he realized he made an error or a controversial float.   – With Jess Diaz