President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday that political dynasties are here to stay “unless you change the culture.”
In his speech at the inauguration of the Siargao Island Sports and Tourism Complex in Surigao del Norte, Duterte said that an anti-political dynasty legislation would not prosper in Congress even if the Constitution provides for it.
“Kanang provision sa Constitution about political dynasty, dili gyud na molusot maski unsaon, because if you convert that into a constituent assembly, and allow Congress to initiate changes, dili gyud na molusot,” he said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
(If you convert it into a constituent assembly and allow Congress to, well, initiate changes in the Constitution, it will never be passed.)
He said his experience as a longtime mayor of Davao City demonstrates that the people favor such a setup.
“Sa paghawa nakong mayor after my three terms, gipatawag nako ang mga barangay captains. I told them, ‘mamili na ta og muilis nako.’ Unanimous gyud nga si Inday [Sara Duterte] ang mayor, unya si Pulong [Rep. Paolo Duterte] ang para congressman,” the President said.
(When my time as mayor was up, I gathered the barangay captains and asked them to pick someone to replace me. But the local chiefs unanimously picked Inday for mayor and Pulong for the House of Representatives.)
He said that the anti-political dynasty idea is “contrary to human behavior.”
“Ingnon nimo’g, ‘Pamili na mo’g lain kay tiguwang na ko,’ muingon naman pud sila, ‘Naay usa nimo ka Duterte,'” Duterte said.
(If you tell them, ‘Choose a replacement because I’m already old,’ they would say, ‘We choose another Duterte.’)
After that, he took aim at “disbelieving” people, and the media for trying to harp on the issue of political dynasty and said, “unless you change the whole picture, unless you change the Constitution, unless you change the culture, puwede pa siguro [an anti-dynasty law might be possible].”
“Pero og ani lang gihapon (But if we stay like this), we will have dynasties,” he added.
In 2018, Duterte said that he was for banning political dynasty, but his question then was “lulusot ba yan?” (will it get through Congress?)
He raised the concern as he doubted that the move would bear fruit, even if he was for such a legislation. —with Virgil Lopez/LBG, GMA News
Duterte: Political dynasty will stay, it’s innate human behavior
Source: Pinoy Hub News
0 Comments