(Eagle News) – By 2022, the Philippines would already have a federal form of government, and Filipinos will vote for a new president to rule the country.
This was the assurance made by former Chief Justice Reynato Puno in a media briefing on Monday, March 26, 2018.
“By 2022 we should have already federalized. Meaning, we will no longer have a unitary government, we’ll have a federal government and the powers of the government have already been allocated both to the federal government, the states and the constituent units,” Puno told reporters.
The former chief magistrate who heads the constitutional commission reviewing the 1987 Constitution said that panel is not inclined have any provision which will extend the term of any public official.
“There will be no holdover provision. By the time we have already shifted to a federal form, a new president will be voted,” he explained.
“As of now the prohibitions and term limits under the 1987 Constitution would still be binding,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s term as President ends in 2022. He had repeatedly said that he would not want any term extensions, and had even claimed he would step down as soon as a federal form of government is in place.
(Eagle News Service)