Pancito, Maria Leanne A.

STEM 11- A

English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Ms. Vanessa C. Abangan, LPT.

Change for the President

Incumbent Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is ineligible or not qualified

for re-election on election 2022. The next Philippine presidential and vice-presidential
election is scheduled to be held on May 9, 2002. This will be the 17th presidential election
in the Philippines. Many claims have been raised for this issue, may that be in favor or
against the running of our presidency of our President on the next elections. Under 1987
constitution, Duterte and Robredo cannot seek re-election because according to the
Consultative Committee's draft constitution, their terms are only set for four years allowing
them to serve a maximum of two terms. People seek for change. That is why some
Filipinos are still on track on Duterte's stay in power.

Duterte brings off a controversial topic again. It has been said that the president
will be running for the next election to pursue one of his campaign promises, which is the
implementation of federalism in our country. He believed that if federalism occurs in our
country, it may redistribute all the wealth and power to all regional centers, not only in the
Philippines' capital city, Manila. However, Duterte repeatedly gave a word that he wants
to go back to Davao City after his term on serving the country. He even said that he is
willing to cut short his presidency if the Consultative Committee is set to elect a transitional
president.

If Duterte still wishes to run on the next election, he may become a "transition
president" in which he will become the first president to ever change our country's for of
government from democracy to federalism. According to De La Cruz (2018), federalism
is a hot topic among Filipinos because it is expected to accommodate regional
preferences and diversity. Which is true because more power can be distributed over the
funds and resources. Duterte also stated that federalism is also a possible solution for the
conflicts in Mindanao. It also brings the government closer to the people.
 The Philippines, however, is known to be a democratic country. Filipinos lived in
the saying "For the people, by the people, of the people". I think if democracy will be taken
from us, our right to vote freely will be gone. Many Filipinos are against of this change
because our minds have already set to have a power to vote the people who we think
deserves to be in that position.

Therefore, if I'm going to take a stand on President Duterte's presidential

candidacy on the next election, I will be against it. I cannot stand to live in a country where
people's freedom to vote could be taken away. In addition, our President even said that
he is not willing to run for president again so why bother to stop him. He also has done
enough, which are good, in his term and I think he also wishes to relieve himself on all
the stress he is dealing today in ruling the country. I still support our President and I salute
him for all the good changes he has done, but I think the face of change that he foresee
is too much. Change is meaningless if majority of the people dissent.