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Senators cast doubt on Speaker's 'no election' scenario in 2019

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MANILA (UPDATE) - Senators on Thursday cast doubt on House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez&#x27;s scenario that the 2019 elections might be postponed to pave the way for the country&#x27;s shift to a federal form of government.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/03/18/no-elections-in-2019-anything-is-possible-speaker">No elections in 2019? Anything is possible - Speaker</a></li></ul>Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said he expects &quot;to have elections in 2019&quot; as the legislative branch does not have enough time to revise the Constitution before the midterm polls.&quot;[It] will be very difficult to revise the Constitution in a few months. For starters, I have not read any details on federalism,&quot; Recto said in a statement.Sen. JV Ejercito, who is batting for reelection in 2019, said the electorate is &quot;looking forward&quot; to voting for their preferred public officials.&quot;[It] might be difficult to make people accept that there will be no elections,&quot; Ejercito said in a statement.For Sen. Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, the leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives are &quot;subliminally campaigning against&quot; the proposed charter change.&quot;Floating a no-el (no election) and term extension scenario, as recent history would suggest, won&#x27;t help their advocacy to shift to a federal form of government,&quot; Lacson said in a statement.On Wednesday, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the Philippines may pursue the shift to a federal form of government without postponing next year&#x27;s elections.&quot;That is not an &#x27;either or&#x27; situation. We can shift to federalism and allow all scheduled elections under the existing Constitution to go on and be held,&quot; Pimentel said in a statement. &quot;And before we can operate under a new Constitution, the provisions of the existing Constitution must be followed. Hence, if there are scheduled elections under the existing Constitution, then this must be followed,&quot; he added.Opposition Sen. Francis Pangilinan, meanwhile, gave caution, saying a 10-year transition period without elections and a term extension for legislators are among constitutional amendments that may be included in the proposed charter. Under this scenario, all local officials will be appointed, the President will have the power to craft laws, and restrictions against foreign businesses may be lifted, Pangilinan said.

Senators on Thursday cast doubt on House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez's scenario that the 2019 elections might be postponed to pave the way for the country's shift to a federal form of government.

Senators on Thursday cast doubt on House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez's scenario that the 2019 elections might be postponed to pave the way for the country's shift to a federal form of government.