JV Ejercito OK with 4-year terms with reelection for nat'l, local execs

Returning Senator JV Ejercito on Monday expressed openness to extend the terms of president, vice president and local officials by giving them a four-year term with a reelection should measures amending the 1987 Congress are discussed in the 19th Congress.

In a television interview, Ejercito said the proposed term extensions should be studied further but he mentioned his experience as mayor and congressman, stressing that the current three-year term with reelection is "really very short."

"Perhaps we can consider going to the four-year term [just like] before because I think the 5 years that [are] being proposed might be too long. Four-year term with reelection for national officials, particularly the president and vice president just like our old constitution and probably four-year term also for our local officials so that we can be more productive," Ejercito said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

The re-election would show the constituents' assessment of the elected officials' performance during their respective stints, he added.

But Ejercito said that any push to change the country's Charter should prioritize amending the current economic provisions.

"I am more particular in the economic provision so we can be more competitive again. Because when it was written, there is no such thing as globalization, world wide web, internet. The world has become smaller. So we have to adapt to the situation. I am more particular in the economic provisions so that we can be more competitive," Ejercito said.

Although he expressed openness on term extensions for elected officials, Ejercito said this is not something that he would pursue in the 19th Congress.

"I have more other matters that I would like to pursue, especially the Universal Health Care Law, comprehensive master plan. So I have these as priorities. But again for constitutional amendments I would like to be more focused on the economic provisions rather than the political provisions," he said.

Ejercito recently filed his pet bills for the 19th Congress which was topped by the Comprehensive Infrastructure Development Master Plan bill.

In the same television interview, the returning senator explained that this would be a "blueprint" for infrastructure development in the country.

The masterplan would be institutionalized through a law so that infrastructure development across the country will continue regardless of who will sit as the president of the Philippines.

Ejercito further stated that this bill would create more opportunities in the countryside and this could help in decongesting major cities in the Philippines.

Several 19th Congress senators have already expressed different positions to a proposal in the House of Representatives which seeks to amend the Constitution and cut the president and vice president's terms to five years but allow one reelection.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is expected to be the next Senate president, said amending the 1987 Constitution will not be the chamber's priority in the 19th Congress.

He said the Senate should prioritize measures that would help in the country's economic recovery. —KBK, GMA News