Robredo willing to lead opposition coalition
Hours after Vice President Leni Robredo openly accepted the role of leading a united opposition, President Duterte belittled her capability of governing the country.
“I will not resign because it will make her president. My resignation is addressed to the people so that they can choose the leader they want. I don’t think she will be ready to govern the country,” the President said in a speech at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga yesterday.
“Reason? Incompetence – that she is not capable of running a country like this, the Philippines,” he added.
When pressed further, the Chief Executive clarified he was willing to cut short his term not for the Vice President to succeed him but to give the Filipino people a free hand to choose their next leader under a federal government.
Duterte also challenged Robredo to join him in resigning from their posts if the people approve in a referendum the shift from presidential to a federal form of government, after saying he is not interested in becoming a transition president.
Prior to this, Duterte urged Congress and the consultative committee (Concom) anew to put a provision in the draft charter that a new leader should be elected at the start of the transition, which he said could be done as early as 2019.
“Better still, I will invite them or her to resign with me. Not really to resign but agree to cease being president and vice president. And I am asking Congress and the (Concom), I do not have (agenda) on the president,” he said.
Duterte expressed belief that those who are criticizing him over his strict leadership style are the ones who want to prolong their stay in power.
“Believe me, those who say that ‘Duterte will be a dictator,’ they are the ones who will become a dictator. They have the ambitions. All they do is invent malice in their minds,” he said, before taking potshots at those who belong to the opposite side of the political fence.
During the press briefing, Duterte said he wanted to make clear his agenda to douse speculations that he wants to prolong his term and become a dictator.
“I said, if the transition government is approved, I am suggesting everybody, to Congress and the (Concom), if they wish to, they can amend and make a provision there that I will be co-terminus with the effectivity of the (new) constitution under a federal type,” he said.
“Once it is implemented… they can provide a provision that the Office of the President can be declared vacant but you have to call for an election. It cannot be a succession because I have no other agenda except that I would like the Filipino to choose a new leader specially that it is a new structure…,” he added.
Duterte is conscious that the Filipino people might want to tap a new leader under a new government.
“They might want to get an experienced official or person who would have the competence and enterprise to form a government structured for (a) federal type of government,” he said.
Duterte said he is merely making a suggestion, and that lawmakers can accept it or not.
But Speaker Pantaleon Alavarez said Congress cannot give in to the President’s wish to cut short his term as the highest official of the land in 2019.
Alvarez was quick to point out that the President cannot just do as he wished because there are things that he has committed and taken oath to as Chief Executive.
“Congress cannot do what the President wants. The President has a contract with the Filipino people that he has to be in office for six years and he cannot just step down as he wants to, even with the shift to the federal form of government.
Taking a stand
“There were initiatives of different (opposition) groups to unite and they asked me if I can lead, I said yes, but the terms have to be discussed,” Robredo said yesterday at a press conference following her decision to lead the united opposition.
She said she had been vocal about her stance against Duterte’s policies such as the war on drugs, Charter change and the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
“I have always been vocal from day one, that’s the reason why I was removed from the Cabinet. Even when I was still a part of the Cabinet, if I felt that my voice was needed on various important issues, I took a stand against these,” she said.
Robredo resigned as chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council in 2016 after Duterte barred her from attending Cabinet meetings.
Last week, Robredo said she met with representatives of several groups which staunchly oppose Duterte like Tindig Pilipinas, Akbayan, Magdalo and the Liberal Party, which she chairs.
It was during this meeting, she said, that they asked her if she could be the leader of the opposition. Robredo said she answered: “Of course, yes.”
The Vice President said there are many policies of the administration that she opposes.
“It started with our opposition against extrajudicial killings. Now, there’s this anti-loitering drive, which effect is similar to the anti-drug war, the condition of our economy and many more,” Robredo said.
“There is a proposal to look for the least common denominator – what is it that we would all agree on and we would have a strong voice,” Robredo said.
She said members of the opposition are also discussing the possibility of forming a united opposition slate for the May 2019 midterm elections.
“We haven’t decided yet whether we’ll have a full slate or just half, or just a few candidates, the discussions are still ongoing,” she said.
“We still need to thresh out a lot of things because those who will join the united opposition slate must adhere to the terms of unification,” she said.
No to transition leader
Yesterday, Robredo opposed Duterte’s proposal to elect a “younger” new leader to oversee the transition of the government into the proposed federal system.
“When we ran for public office we take the challenge to serve the people for six years. We cannot just stop in the middle of the game and say we don’t like anymore because we’re tired already. You cannot just give your mandate to anyone anytime you want,” Robredo said at the same press conference.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Monday said Duterte wants the consultative committee (Concom) formed to propose amendments to the Constitution to come up with a provision stating that a transition leader should be elected.
Roque said the President would no longer want to have a role in the transition government because he was already “tired” and to dispel notions that he is using Charter change (Cha-cha) to remain in power.
Duterte has repeatedly said he is ready to step down once a federal government is established.
Meanwhile, Robredo reiterated her call on government leaders not to rush the proposed Cha-cha and address the more pressing issues faced everyday by Filipinos such as the unabated rise in the prices of basic goods.
“Charter change is not the answer to the price increase, it’s not the answer to poverty,” she said.
Robredo said while the Duterte government continues to pour in huge amounts of money for its federalism caravan, it failed to hear the voices of the people, who remain clueless on the implications of the proposed new system of government.
She said her constituents in Bicol told her that a federalism caravan of the Department of the Interior and Local Government was attended by some prospective senatorial candidates for the 2019 midterm elections.
“I have nothing against federalism but we need to help the people understand what it really means because it might just be used as a vehicle to advance private interest,” the Vice President said.
Protests set
Militant workers are preparing for a massive campaign against Cha-cha, which they claimed could pave the way for weakening of labor rights in the country.
Rene Magtubo, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) chairman, said workers are deeply concerned over the proposed charter submitted by Concom.
“Aside from the loophole that allows for term extension for the sitting president, the draft charter dilutes the rights of workers guaranteed under the present Constitution. Instead of strengthening labor and human rights, they are degraded in the anemic language of the draft constitution,” Magtubo pointed out.
Magtubo claimed the committee dropped from the draft charter provisions on workers’ rights to collective bargaining, peaceful concerted action including strike, humane working conditions, participation in policy making processes and labor’s just share in the fruits of production.
“No wonder the phrase ‘The State shall afford full protection to labor’ in the present Constitution was lost in the draft. Even as we assert that the present Constitution can be vastly improved, we will not allow it to be degraded in the meantime,” Magtubo said.
Concom sorry
Concom spokesman Ding Generoso told reporters yesterday afternoon they did not intend to omit provisions protecting the rights of workers and apologized to labor group Federation of Free Workers (FFW).
“We apologize for a mistake in the labor section on the social justice article of the Constitution,” Generoso said.
Generoso said there was no intent to change the provision but that they could have just mixed up some provisions from the labor sections of the proposed constitution to the Bill of Rights.
The Concom issued the apology after labor group FFW said in a statement that the new charter under a federal form of government is “anti-labor” and that they could not endorse such proposal.
In response, Generoso said the Concom members decided yesterday to “restore every word in the 1987 Constitution” as far as workers’ welfare is concerned.
He said the Concom has added two more subheads to the labor section, which deal with the protection of overseas Filipino workers and the promotion of employment opportunities for all. – With Helen Flores, Mayen Jaymalin, Robertzon Ramirez
Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/11/1832525/i-wont-step-down-leni-robredo-duterte#O7ZEkuLzjTDtEvS6.99
