No VP in PDP’s federal charter
The Office of the Vice President will be abolished if the draft federal charter proposed by the PDP-Laban Federal Institution is approved, a progressive former lawmaker said yesterday.
Former Bayan Muna party-list representative and now Chairman Neri Colmenares made the claim as he continued to express opposition to moves of charter change as part of the proposed shift to a federal form of government.
“Under the PDP-Laban 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. Vice President Leni Robredo will be ousted from her office long before her term ends in 2022," Colmenares said.
“While PDP-Laban may argue that they will not apply this to Vice President Robredo, this is not expressed in PDP-Laban Constitution since they have refused to divulge their transitory provision,” he added.
Colmenares cited Article VII, Section 7 of the draft federal charter, which states that in case the president will not be able to perform his functions by reason of death, permanent disability, removal from office or resignation, the Senate President, or in case of his inability, the Speaker of the Federal Assembly will take over until a new president is elected.
“Even if Vice President 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 .... 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.
“The problem is, while PDP Laban wants to lengthen the terms of congressmen from three years to five years, they are 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,” he added. Colmenares also revealed that the PDPLaban's proposed federal charter presents no provision that bars the president from running for another term.
"The same PDP Laban charter change contains no express provision disqualifying President Duterte from running for president in 2022. Under Section 3, Article VII of the PDP Laban Constitution it allows the president to run for a second term," he said.
He said Article VII, Section 3 of the same draft states that "no person shall serve as president for more than two consecutive terms."
Colmenares maintained that the public should oppose the proposed charter change and the constituent assembly.