MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte will ask the Consultative Committee (Con-Com) and Congress to insert a provision in their proposed constitution that would make it impossible for him to run for president again under the new charter.

This “special request” will be communicated to Congress, said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque during a Malacañang press briefing on Monday, July 9.

“He will ask Congress to put a provision that erases hope that he can run again in another election,” said Roque.

He added that Duterte is “okay” with leading the Con-Com’s proposed Federal Transition Commission, as long as his mandate will end within his term which is until June 30, 2022.

“He is okay within 2022, within his term of office with the special request to Congress to place a provision there that the incumbent president shall be barred from running or seeking reelection,” said Roque.

A Con-Com member, political scientist Julio Teehankee, had said that the committee’s proposed constitution does not bar  Duterte from again seeking the presidency after a new charter is ratified as this would mean the 1987 Constitution’s one-term limit for the president no longer applies.

But he took this back, saying that there would be “continuity” with the current charter’s term limitation and that the draft’s provision ruling out term extension also covers reelection.

Duterte reiterated last Friday that he doesn’t want his term extended and wants a new president elected under a new constitution.

Duterte is set to receive the Con-Com’s proposed constitution on Monday, July 9 in Malacañang. He is expected to review the document before endorsing it to Congress during his State of the Nation Address on July 23. (READ: Highlights of Consultative Committee’s draft federal constitution)

Congress is the only constitutionally mandated body that can propose amendments to the Constitution. They can choose to adopt the Con-Com’s draft in parts or entirely, or set it aside completely. – Rappler.com