Palace spokesman Atty. Harry Roque on Tuesday said that President Rodrigo Duterte is “not interested” in extending his term of office beyond his term.
Roque issued the statement amid a barrage of criticisms after Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo earlier proposed to suspend the 2022 elections due to public fears of the coronavirus fears.
Arroyo had suggested to the Commission of Elections to postpone next year’s polls, saying that voters may not go out to vote because of fears of contracting the virus.
Roque, however, said that postponing the elections ‘is not an option for Malacañang given the provisions of the 1987 Constitution.’
“The President is not interested in extending his term. And he leaves it to the Filipino people, the sovereign people, to decide if they want to amend the Constitution to postpone the elections,” Roque said during a Palace press briefing.
“It can never be an option for Malacañang, unless the Constitution is amended,” he added.
Presidential and vice-presidential elections are held every second Monday of May, every six years after May 1992, as provided for by the 1987 Consitution.
Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas also said that he was not looking at suspending the 2022 national polls.
“On the part of Comelec, wala sa plano namin yung postponement,” Abas said in a virtual press briefing.
Roque, meanwhile, said what the government is considering is to change the way elections are conducted in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Under the new normal, under the situation, mukhang ang magbabago ay yung paraan paano mangampanya, pero patuloy po ang eleksyon,” he said.
(What could change is the way the elections are conducted, and the way campaigns are done, but the elections will continue.)
Meanwhile, Roque said that Vice-President Leni Robredo should not worry that networks from China could influence the 2022 elections.
Robredo had expressed concern that networks from China were trying to get involved in the Philippines’ domestic affairs after Facebook recently removed China-based, PH military and police-linked networks for ‘coordinated inauthentic behavior’
“Anong ginagawa ng China sa domestic affairs natin? Ito, kailangan tayo dito matakot. Kasi bakit? Ano ang interes ninyo sa eleksyon?” Robredp said.
(Why is China getting involved in our domestic affairs? This should frighten us. Why? What is their interest in our elections?)
“Nakakatakot ito kasi may kinalaman ito sa soberanya natin.” (This is worrisome because it concerns our sovereignty.)
Roque said, however, downplayed Robredo’s concerns.
“Filipinos are smart enough to discern information online. They don’t easily believe all the information online, Roque said.
“Ang mga Pilipino naman po, napakatalino natin. Hindi po lahat ng nababasa sa Facebook ay pinaniniwalaan,” Roque said.
(Filipinos are smart. We don’t believe everything that we read on Facebook.)
Roque added that after Facebook shut down pages linked to the president’s allies, the President’s supporters will likely seek other platforms outside Facebook.
Roque also said that the Palace respects the decision of Facebook even as he reiterated his opposition to the designation of critical media outlets Rappler and Vera Files as its fact-checkers.
“Hindi ko nga maintindihan bakit iyon lang ang kinuhang fact-checker ng Facebook. Bakit naman hindi sila kumuha doon sa kabilang kampo. Tapos iyong country president pa nila diyan eh talaga namang mortal na oposisyon,” he said.
“Pupunta na lang sa ibang medium iyong mga sumusuporta sa gobyerno at iyan naman po ang kuwento noong mga supporters ni Presidente Duterte na sa mula’t mula po humahanap ng alternative venue para ipakalat ang impormasyon.”
Roque added that Facebook did not remove the official pages of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Facebook also took down the account of Army Captain Alexandre Cabales, which the AFP questioned, saying that Cabales’ posts were “real, authentic, and shared news.”
The Palace urged Facebook to exercise prudence “in all its actions to remove any doubt of bias given its power, influence and reach.”
