Rep. Alvarez eyes two-party system to address turncoatism

Politicians switching from one party to another out of convenience may not be possible anymore if the government of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte succeeds in rewriting the Constitution.

Interviewed by reporters on Friday, incoming Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon "Bebot" Alvarez said the prohibition against turncoatism can be spelled out in the proposed Charter.

“Dun na lang sa bagong Constitution ‘yun. Baka dun pwede natin ilagay, with strong words, na magkaroon ng two-party system, na magiging loyal sa isang partido. Open ako diyan,” said Alvarez, who was endorsed by Duterte as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

For now, there is no stopping politicians from shifting their loyalty to whoever is in power just like in the case of Duterte, whose incoming government has to rely on coalition agreements with other political parties to move his legislative agenda forward.

Alvarez said the constitutional change may also tackle relaxing provisions against foreign ownership in certain businesses and shifting the system of government to federal from presidential.

Duterte sees federalism as the solution to armed conflict and underdevelopment in his native Mindanao.

“Pag binuksan natin ‘yung revision ng Constitution, lahat ‘yan pag-uusapan. Lahat iko-consider talaga. You are revising the entire Constitution so lahat ng nakasulat dun, babaguhin talaga ‘yan. Let’s leave it to the framers," Alvarez said.

To save cost, Alvarez said Duterte is looking into the possibility of duplicating the late President Corazon Aquino's example of tapping experts in various fields to craft the proposed Charter.

After that, the proposed Constitution will be submitted to Congress as a constituent body for scrutiny before subjecting it to a plebiscite.

Alvarez hopes to hold the plebiscite during the 2019 midterm elections. —KBK, GMA News