President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not be eligible to the proposed term limits and reelection in the bill filed by Pampanga Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., who sought to reduce the president’s and vice president’s terms to five years, but with one reelection.
During an interview with ANC on Monday, July 4, Gonzales said that even if the bill is approved under Marcos’ term in the 19th Congress, he will not benefit from it because his six-year term has already started.
He explained that if the bill is approved in the 19th Congress, its provisions on term limits and reelection will only take effect starting in 2025.
“Sa 2025, nasa midterm ang ating Pangulo at ating Vice President so sa palagay ko hindi sila pwedeng tumakbo rito (In 2025, our President and Vice President are in their midterm so I think they cannot run here),” he said.
If the bill becomes a law, government officials such as congressmen, governors, local chief executives who are already in their last term, like himself, cannot seek reelection.
Gonzales explained that former presidents, vice presidents, congressmen, governors, local chief executives, and “down the line” who are in their last terms will not be able to run under the bill’s provisions.
READ: Solon files resolution seeking 5 year terms for presidents, VPs, lawmakers
This is not the first time that the lawmaker filed the said bill, having first filed it in the 17th and 18th Congress.
House Resolution No. 1 sought to amend the 1987 Constitution, effectively lifting the constitutional limits on the president’s, vice president’s, representatives’, and local elected officials’ terms.
Gonzales filed the resolution on June 30, the same day the President was inaugurated.
The Constitution currently provides a single six-year term for president and vice president.
Congressmen and other elective officials, however, may have three three-year consecutive terms. They are also allowed reelection after a one-term, equivalent to three years, hiatus from the same post.