Once the government’s proposal to shift to federalism is approved, the Office of the Vice President may lose its relevance and this could lead to its abolition, Bayan Muna Chair and former Congressman Neri Colmenares said in a statement.
According to Colmenares, the scenario will overthrow Vice President Leni Robredo in 2019, three years short of her supposed term.
“Under the PDP-Laban (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan) Constitution, the office of the Vice President will be abolished by 2019 if they succeed in having the new Constitution ratified during the 2019 elections,” the former legislator said.
“Vice-President Leni Robredo will be ousted from her office long before her term ends in 2022,” he added.
Colmenares pointed out that “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.”
And if Robredo will be allowed to finish her term, “she will only be a lame-duck Vice President,” with no place in the list of Duterte’s successor.
Citing Section 7, Article VII of the PDP Laban constitution, Colmenares said it is the “Senate President and if incapacitated, the Speaker who shall succeed Pres. 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,” he said.
Meanwhile, slamming the claims, Robredo’s legal adviser, Barry Gutierrez questioned, “How does abolishing the OVP relate to the establishment of Federalism? Or is the abolition already in service of some other, unstated, agenda?”
Gutierrez said that the last time the Philippines did not have a VP was during the term of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. as president.
(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 01/ 15 / 18)