Bayan Muna chairman and former Rep. Neri Colmenares strongly opposed yesterday the Duterte government’s move to amend the 1987 Constitution, saying that it will abolish the Office of the Vice President in 2019 and allow the re-election of President Duterte in 2022.
He said Vice President Leni Robredo will have to step down even before her term ends in 2022, explaining that under the PDP-Laban Constitution, the OVP will be abolished by 2019 if the current government succeeds in having the new Constitution ratified during the 2019 elections.
“While PDP-Laban may argue that they will not apply this to VP Robredo, this is not expressed in PDP-Laban Constitution since they have refused to divulge their transitory provision,” Colmenares said in a statement.
“Even if VP Robredo is allowed to stay until 2022, she will be a lameduck Vice President who is not even listed in the line of succession to President Duterte,” he said.
The former Bayan Muna representative noted that under Section 7, Article 7, of the PDP-Laban Constitution, it is the Senate President and if incapacitated, the House Speaker who shall succeed Duterte in case of death or removal from office.
“The Vice President is not mentioned at all in the line of succession because, upon ratification of the new Constitution, her office no longer exists,” Colmenares, a human rights lawyer, said.
He observed that while PDP-Laban wants to lengthen the terms of congressmen from three years to five years, it is practically cutting the term of the second highest official under the 1987 Constitution.
“The pending vice presidential election protest becomes moot as the second highest official under the new Constitution is no longer the Vice President but the Senate President and House Speaker,” the progressive leader said.
Section 7, Article 7 of the PDP-Laban proposal states that “in case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the President of the Senate, or in case of his inability, the Speaker of the Federal Assembly shall then act as President until the President shall have been elected and qualified.”
“On the other hand, the same PDP-Laban Cha-cha contains no express provision disqualifying President Duterte from running for President in 2022. In fact, under Section 3, Article 7 of the PDP-Laban Constitution, it allows the President to run for a second term,” Colmenares said.
He noted that Section 3, Article 7, of the PDP-Laban Constitution provides that “no person shall serve as President for more than two consecutive terms.”
“Previous Cha-chas, and this Cha-cha have been about eliminating term limits, extending terms, ‘No-El’ and other self serving objectives. Even if one supports federalism, this Cha-cha and Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) must be opposed because of its draconian measures, anti-people provisions, and self-serving motivations,” Colmenares said. (Charissa M. Luci-Atienza)
