Being VP will not shield Duterte from cases

THEEXACT words of the President when he faced his breakaway PDP- Laban group last weekend were these: “They keep on threatening me with lawsuits and everything, Trillanes and Carpio, ako.” He added, “The reason is public convenience. itong si panay ang takot sa akin na ma-demanda Being President requires the exercise sabi ng batas, na kung immunity ka. of duties free from any hindrance presidente ka o bise presidente ka, And or distraction. As chief executive may E di tatakbo na after that the president must give undivided lang ako ng bise presidente. attention to his job. His time may tatakbo ulit ako ng bise presidente.” not be wasted fighting off all sorts presidente at bise presidente at bise This is fake news. There is no of cases. law that says the vice president is Obviously, the vice president is not immune from suit. No such thing as the chief executive. The VP is a spare vice presidential immunity under tire, elected to office to succeed the current laws. president when conditions warrant.

Lawyer Edre Olalia said it correctly, The rationale behind presidential “only the President is immune from immunity does not apply to him or suit and this is not even spelled out her. in the present 1987 Constitution — J ustice Secretary Menardo unlike in 1973 Marcos Constitution Guevarra said so when Vice President — but only recognized in prevailing Leni Robredo was a respondent in a jurisprudence.” complaint for sedition filed by the

A sitting president is immune police two years ago. He said that from suit by tradition. It means that “the present Constitution does not an explicit constitutional provision is grant the vice president immunity not required for the privilege to exist. from suit.”

Robredo submitted herself to the process and was able to have the charges against her dismissed on the merits. As far as we recall she did not invoke immunity from suit.

So where is this novel theory of vice- presidential immunity from suit coming from? Neri Colmenares says that this strategy to escape accountability is “legally insane.”

The president is a lawyer who knows, or must know, that his statement has threadbare legal mooring. Why risk getting tagged grossly ignorant of the law?

The answers may be culled from the peripheries of the Duterte- Pacquiao war. It is public knowledge that the fireworks began when the Cusi faction announced Duterte’s automatic nomination for vice president and for him to anoint his running-mate for president.

Pacquiao knew he would not be anointed by Duterte. He is not close enough to the President, and, if lucky, may not be trusted to toe the Davao

when a slew of cases seeking accountability are filed against the outgoing administration.

Immunity from suit will also proceed from control of the executive department. The investigative, enforcement, and prosecutorial arms of government all work for the chief executive.

These institutions may be tapped

shelter those currently in power as the latter are bound to lose their temporary i mmunity when t he next administration succeeds in July 2022.

The President must therefore make sure that the presidential nominee of the party in power is his anointed.

His nomination as vice presidential candidate i s needed to make this happen, in keeping with the Cusi script that is now unfolding. It is not necessary that he actually file his certificate of candidacy in October.

It is enough that Duterte names t he presidential candidate for the ruling party on the posturing that he will be the vice- presidential candidate campaigning from the palace. Good luck to Koko et al. winning that certification contest in the Commission on Elections.

Thus, i t matters not that, along the way, Duterte may utter some statements that are regarded as non- s e n s i c a l a n d r o u t i n e l y dismissed as mere j okes. They continue to raise his stock among his fanatical base, a nd will provide momentum for a dynastic run in 2022./ s a g obyeno s a away s a pandemya bangud sa i l a nakita nga kakulangan sini sa publiko.

E C Q g i d man a y h a n ang solusyon? Hay, ambot mangkota ang gobyerno kay sila man lang ang mas nakahibalo!/