House panel reinstates VP in line of succession

THE House committee on constitutional amendments has reinstated the Vice President in the first line of succession in the transition government in the proposed federal constitution.

According to Leyte Representative Vicente Veloso, chairman of the committee, the panel has amended the proposed federal constitution to include the Vice President in the first line of succession during its executive session earlier in the day, November 12.

Veloso said the committee made no other amendments aside from this.

In can be recalled that the House of Representatives last October reverted to the committee on constitutional amendments the House’s version of the federal constitution after the chamber drew ire from critics over the removal of the Vice President in the line of succession.

Under the Resolution of Both Houses No. 15 or the “Resolution of Both Houses Proposing the Revision of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines,” filed by House Speaker Gloria Macapagalarroyo and 21 other lawmakers, the Senate President shall replace the incumbent president if a vacancy arises during the transition period or the period before the May 2022 elections proposed under Arroyo’s charter change.

Veloso earlier said the decision was made to prevent instability in the government during the transition period, citing the ongoing election protest against Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo before the Supreme Court./sunstar Philippines