FPRRD tells PBBM: Be happy and satisfied with your 6-year term

FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte told President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos to be “contented” and not seek another term.

“Mr. President, be happy and finish your term for six years. Makontento ka na diyan at binigyan ka ng Panginoong Diyos na [maka]pagsilbi sa ating bayan as President... in spite of the fact ng history ninyo pagbaba ng tatay mo hindi maganda (Mr. President, be happy and finish your term for six years. Just be satisfied with your position as God has given you time to serve our country as president… in spite of the fact that your history when your father stepped down was not good),” Duterte said during the Hakbang ng Maisug prayer rally at the Davao del Norte Sports Complex in Tagum City on Sunday evening, April 14

Duterte, who was the special guest of the rally, started his speech by reading the provision of Section 4 of Article VII of the 1987 Philippines.

Quoting the Constitution, Duterte said, “The President and the Vice President shall be elected by direct vote of the people for a term of six years which shall begin at noon on the 30th day of June next following the day of the election [...] and shall end at noon of the same date six years thereafter.”

“The President [...] shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time,” he said.

Duterte, also a former Davao City mayor, said the current provision of the constitution, particularly on term limits, is decent.

“Six year, tama-tama lang,” he said.

However, the president said the current administration is pushing to amend the Constitution, through Charter change (Cha-cha), particularly Section 4 of Article VII, to allow Marcos to stay longer in office.

“Dili maayo ilang plano pagsugod pa lang anang Cha-cha, nigawas nako (In the beginning of their plans about Cha-cha, their plans are not good, that is why I came out),” he said.

Duterte admitted he was hesitant to attend the rally and speak against Marcos, who was the running-mate of his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.

Duterte reiterated his reminder to Marcos not to push through with his ambition to extend his term or else he would end up like his father, the late former president Marcos Sr., who ruled the country for 20 years.