MANILA, Philippines – Only when the 1987 Constitution is amended can 2019 elections be cancelled, as proposed by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, said Malacañang on Wednesday, January 3.

“Unless the Constitution is amended, which includes being ratified by the people prior to the date set in the Constitution, elections will have to push through,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque during a Palace briefing.

In accordance with the Constitution, 12 senators are to be elected in May 2019 since the terms of 12 sitting senators will expire that year.

Alvarez, in a television interview on Wednesday morning, said cancelling the 2019 mid-term elections could be among the transitory provisions in an new Constitution that would establish a federal system of government in the Philippines .

The shift to federalism is one of the 2018 priorities of the House of Representatives, said Alvarez.

He expressed confidence that Congress would convene into a constitutional assemby in January and that a plebiscite could be held in May this year.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, however, said the shift to federalism does not need to come at the cost of the 2019 elections.

“That is not an either-or situation. We can shift to federalism and allow all scheduled elections under the existing Constitutio to go on and be held,” said Pimentel, who is seeking re-election in 2019.

Pimentel heads PDP-Laban, the party of President Rodrigo Duterte, which has a think tank that drafted the federal Constitution being deliberated by Congress now. – Rappler.com