Speaker Arroyo rules out term extension, premiership under new Charter
SPEAKER Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo quashed speculations that she would be seeking a term extension or even the premiership under a new Charter.
“Most definitely, I am not supporting term extension,” Arroyo told reporters in a chance interview in Pampanga where she gave aid to families affected by the recent typhoons.
Arroyo also ruled out becoming Prime Minister even if Charter Change would push through.
“Look, to begin with, the proposed new constitution is presidential-federal. This [me serving as Prime Minister]is just black propaganda,” Arroyo added.
Arroyo was catapulted to the Speakership after 184 members voted to oust then incumbent Pantaleon Alvarez who, in his final speech before President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address, called for the abolition of term limits.
Under the 1987 Constitution, members of the House of Representatives and local officials are allowed three consecutive three-year terms. Senators and the Vice President are allowed to be elected for two consecutive six-year terms, while the President is not eligible for reelection.
The Duterte administration, however, is pushing for a federal government by establishing independent regions each with the authority to manage its resources and craft its laws, including taxation, but the proponents have yet to agree on how to divide the country’s existing 17 regions.
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