Proposed federal constitution now bars Duterte from running in 2022 polls

The Consultative Committee's (Con-com) proposed federal constitution now bars President Rodrigo Duterte to run for re-election in the 2022 polls.

The Con-com on Tuesday released the "final official copy" of its draft federal charter, which shows that the 22-member panel heeded the chief executive's request to eliminate his chance of seeking reelection under a proposed new constitution.

"The incumbent President is prohibited from running as President in the 2022 elections under the Constitution," Section 2, Article XXII (Transitory Provisions) of the Con-com draft now reads.

Former chief justice Reynato Puno, who heads the Con-com proposing amendments to the 1987 Constitution, earlier already told the media about this term extension ban.

It is, however, only now that the exact wording of that provision has been made public, as the body distributed copies of the "final official" copy of its draft Tuesday.

To recall, Duterte had approved the Con-com's work for endorsement to Congress almost in full, except for an instruction to the body he created to craft a provision that would enable him to step down before the transition from a unitary to a federal system of government.

"'It's to remove all suspicions and I am tired. Ready to give it to somebody else,'" Duterte's spokesperson, Harry Roque Jr., quoted his boss as saying.

In response, the Con-com also tweaked its draft to provide for the election of a transition president and vice president — to be voted in tandem — within six months from the ratification of the proposed new constitution.

The earlier version of the draft vested the chairmanship of what has been called a "very powerful" Federal Transition Commission to Duterte, but this power would now go to the transition president.

This elected transition president "shall preside over the orderly transition to the Federal System of Government" and "shall exercise all the powers of the President under this Constitution until June 30, 2022."

"The Transition President and Vice President shall be ineligible to run for any public office in the May 2022 elections," the Con-com proposal states.

It retained an earlier section that disallowed the term extension of the president and the vice president.

Malacañang welcomed the committee's action.

"We thank the Consultative Committee for accommodating the President’s request to provide for an elected transition president," Roque said in a statement.

"This should finally allay all fears that President Duterte has other motives for wanting to shift to a federal form of government," he added.  — with Virgil Lopez/MDM/RSJ, GMA News