THE Consultative Committee (Con-com) “agreed in principle” on Tuesday to include an exact provision barring the incumbent president from seeking reelection once the shift to federal system takes place.
Con-com Chairman Reynato S. Puno told reporters that it is by “special request” of the President that this be included under the transitory provisions under the new charter.
“He will be banned from running because that is what he wants,” Puno said, adding that charter change was never meant for term extension.
“So that there will be no more speculation, the President requested that that provision be included under the new constitution,” he added.
Puno said the Committee is also inclined to adopt the transitory provision that within six months after the ratification of the constitution, there will be a special election for transitory president and transitory vice president who will take charge of the transition until 2022.
Asked why the Commitee agreed to include the election of the transitory vice president after the constitution is ratified, Puno said in Filipino: “The [election for the transitory] Vice President is included because we thought that if something happens to the [transitory] president, he will have no successor and it is also to start the election of president and vice president in tandem.”
Under the proposed draft federal charter, the president and vice president will be voted in tandem.
Incumbent VP not barred
However, Puno clarified that it is only the incumbent president who will be barred from seeking reelection and that the incumbent vice president can still run as transitory president or transitory vice president.
The elected transitory president “will preside in the transition period but he shall also be exercising all the powers of the president in the constitution.”
All officials under the 1987 Constitution will be in a holdover capacity until they are changed, Puno said.
Puno also noted that they still have to fine-tune the details today (July 11), but he noted that other details might be left to Congress.
The sudden decision to revise the transitory provisions was made after the President told the Con-com on Monday to explicitly bar him from seeking reelection to dispel rumors on his alleged ill motives in pushing for the new charter.
Earlier, the controversy over the President’s possible reelection arose in the absence of an explicit provision barring the President from running in 2022 under the new charter. The Con-com defended that decision, saying that putting in an explicit ban would be “discriminatory” and “undemocratic.”
Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said on Tuesday the President informed the Cabinet on Monday about his request to Con-com, noting that he is willing to step down as early as 2019 once the new constitution is ratified through a plebiscite and a new transition leader is elected.
This also meant that the President is not amenable to heading the 10-man Federal Transition Commission as proposed by the Con-com.
Under the old Transitory Provisions of the proposed draft federal constitution submitted on Monday by the Con-com to the President, the Federal Transition Commission – proposed by the Con-com to be headed by the President – is tasked to organize and reorganize and fully establish the federal government and the governments of the federated regions in accordance with the Constitution, among others.
Puno said he was partly surprised by the President’s decision not to head the Federal Transition Commission.
Asked if this will affect the timeline of the shift of to federal form of government, Puno said they are still looking into it as they cannot compel Congress to finish studying the draft federal constitution.
‘Honest mistake’
Meanwhile, the Con-com also apologized on Tuesday to labor groups for the Committee’s “honest mistake” in the Labor Section on the Article on Social Justice under their proposed draft federal constitution.
The Con-com decided to “restore every word in the 1987 constitution concerning labor” and add to more sections, which is protection of Overseas Filipino Workers and the promotion of employment opportunities to all.
The apology followed comments by the Federation of Free Workers that the draft was “anti-labor” for allegedly scrapping provisions of the 1987 Constitution protecting the rights of workers.
Con-com denied that they restored the provisions because of the labor group’s reaction. Nevertheless, Puno said he is aware of FFW’s reaction so he said: “That is why we are apologizing.”
In a news statement, FFW President Sonny Matula said a draft copy they obtained last week “categorically omitted” the guarantee to the workers’ rights to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiation and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to stage a labor strike.
Although a new version of the draft federal constitution was submitted to the President on Monday and the copy of which was released publicly, the provisions allegedly omitted were still not evident in that version.
“For that, Chief Justice said, we apologize to the labor sector. There has never been an intent to change those provisions,” Con-com spokesman Conrado I. Generoso told reporters. “It seems that there was a little bit of a mix-up in the files.”
He continued: “The intent was to put some of those provisions in the Bill of Rights, but then in the discussions since there were Universal Rights for All, the decision was to retain that in the social justice provisions with two additional sections.”
The two new provisions are:
- e) The Federal Republic shall protect citizens of the Philippines working overseas against inhumane treatment by their employers. Those under investigation or trial for commission of a crime shall be provided legal representation to ensure the protection of their rights.
- f) The Federal Republic shall promote employment opportunities, and pursue the economic goal of full employment. In all enterprises, industries and work opportunities, citizens of the Philippines shall be given employment preference when they possess the necessary qualifications. Further, persons with disability shall be provided opportunities for gainful employment and the private sector shall be given incentives to employ them.
Generoso said they also added another sentence in the first labor provision: “No person shall be denied employment by reason of age, gender, political or religious belief, ethnicity, status, physical appearance or disability and other conditions that amount to discrimination.”
Image credits: Anyo Niminus