Duterte: Charter change needed vs wealthy pols’ abuse

MANILA, Philippines — There is a need to change the Constitution as it is being abused by wealthy politicians, President Duterte said yesterday.

“If the time comes I’m talking about the young ones, mayors, congressmen change the Constitution,” the President said in a speech in Batangas.

“The Constitution is not really a perfect one. I would not say it is the worst Constitution but we have copied that from America, word for word almost, when we established the Republic in 1947. We had a Constitution then, but it was better,” Duterte said.

“The problem is they added a lot, including this party-list,” he said.

The party-list system, Duterte said, no longer serves the marginalized sector.

He said he noticed that some members of Congress have their party-list groups, which are headed either by their wives or children.

“(The party-list) is a mechanism to give the lowly Filipinos the voice or voices to be heard,” Duterte said.

“All the rich in the whole Philippines, all the millionaires have party-lists... those without party-list they buy one,” he said.

“With this Constitution, it’s easy to become a billionaire in public office if you want,” the President said.

He also noted that those who have money usually win the elections.

“We really need to change (the Constitution),” he said, adding it is up to the people whether they do it through constituent assembly or constitutional convention.

Duterte earlier urged Filipinos not to vote for party-list groups that he claimed are supporting communist rebels.

He reiterated he is not endorsing any candidate for president but expressed support for his daughter, vice presidential aspirant and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

“I am not supporting any candidate except, of course, my daughter. Ako, boboto talaga ako sa anak ko (I will really vote for my daughter),” Duterte said after inspecting the Mataasnakahoy Evacuation Center in Batangas.

Duterte-Carpio is the vice presidential candidate of Lakas-CMD, which is part of the UniTeam Alliance led by presidential aspirant and former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

During a campaign rally in Cebu last Thursday, Duterte described his daughter as “very hardworking,” “very good” and “very strict.”

Last February, Duterte announced that he was not supporting any presidential candidate unless a “compelling reason” emerged for him to do so. The following month, Duterte’s allies in PDP-Laban endorsed the candidacy of Marcos but the President insisted he remained neutral on the presidential race.

During an engagement with local leaders in Oriental Mindoro last November, Duterte described Marcos, the son and namesake of the late dictator, as “spoiled” and “weak leader.”