MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte yesterday ordered security forces to shoot him if he remains in office beyond his six-year term.
Duterte issued the statement in the wake of suspicions that he would use Charter change to establish a dictatorship.
“Kapag ako sumobra sa aking termino, kahit isang araw lang (If I go beyond my term even for a day), I am now asking the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) or PNP (Philippine National Police) not to allow me or anybody else to mess with the Constitution,” the President said during the launching of an agriculture program for soldiers in Compostela Valley.
“That’s your job, to protect the Constitution and the people. Kapag sumobra ang panahon ko kahit isang araw lang, barilin n’yo ako (If I exceed even a day, shoot me),” he added.
Duterte’s allies in Congress have floated the possibility of term extension for the President and a no-election scenario in 2019 once the 1987 Constitution is amended.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier said the 2019 midterm polls might not be necessary once the form of government is changed to federal from unitary, because such shift cannot take effect immediately.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said Duterte’s term could be extended if the new charter allows it.
Members of the opposition are worried that the shift to federalism might be used to lift the term limits and establish a dictatorship.
Palace officials denied this, saying Duterte is not interested in remaining in power.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque even claimed that a term extension is Duterte’s “ultimate nightmare.”
Roque said Duterte, as chief implementer of the Constitution, is committed to ensuring an honest election next year.
In his previous speeches, the President vowed to resign once a federal government is in place and the constitution contains stronger provisions against graft and corruption.