Consultative committee wants college degree for top government posts

MANILA, Philippines — The consultative committee (Concom) tasked by President Duterte to draft a new federal constitution wants to prohibit politicians who are non-college degree holders to run for president, vice president, senator and congressman.

Eduardo Nachura, former Supreme Court associate justice and Concom member, proposed that the college degree requirement be imposed on candidates seeking national positions.

“We are looking into requiring candidates for president down to congressmen to have a college degree or its equivalent,” Nachura said in a press conference yesterday.

The Concom is also eyeing to require subsequent presidents to appoint the vice president to a mandatory Cabinet post.

Nachura said the proposal aims to address recurring problems arising whenever the top officials of the country were in conflict.

He acknowledged that the committee considered “partly” the situation between Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo.

At present, the president is not required to give a Cabinet post to the vice president. They also can be elected from different parties.

Robredo served briefly in Duterte’s Cabinet as head of the government’s housing program. She resigned when she was barred from attending Cabinet meetings.

Under the proposed constitution, Nachura said the president and vice president would be elected in tandem.

He said the current setup between Duterte and Robredo would not happen in the future because presidential and vice presidential candidates would be elected in tandem or from the same party.

For succession to the vice president, the president will be given the right to appoint a senator or congressman in his political party to replace him, requiring no confirmation contrary to the present Constitution. 

For the legislative branch, Nachura said there would only be two or four senators elected per region, depending on the number of federal states, while at least one representative or congressman will be elected per district. 

The 19-member Concom subpanel earlier agreed to require members of the Senate and House of Representatives to hold a college degree under the proposed federal system.

Nachura said the other requirements under the 1987 Constitution would be included, such as the candidate’s age and years of residency.

He said the proposal on educational requirement for president and vice president is not yet final as they would tackle it during the session on April 16.

According to the 1987 Constitution, a senatorial candidate must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, at least 35 years old on the day of election, able to read and write, a registered voter and a resident of the Philippines for at least two years.

It also states that a member of the House of Representatives must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, at least 25 years old on the day of election, able to read and write, a registered voter in the district where they seek to be elected – excluding party-list representatives – and a resident of the Philippines for at least a year.

The Concom is set to discuss the proposals of the sub-committee, which is tasked to review the provisions and functions of the executive and legislative.

Nachura is the head of the sub-committee on the structure of the proposed federalism. 

Under the proposal, the president, vice president, senator and congressman will have four-year terms and can seek reelection.