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Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Elect PH president, VP in tandem, says solon

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The country’s next president and vice president should be elected in tandem, just like in America, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said on Friday.

“Our current setup wherein the president and the vice president may belong to different political parties is really problematic, counterproductive and highly impractical,” Atienza, former three-term mayor of Manila, said.

Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza

“We should adopt the American system wherein the president and the vice president are elected together as one ticket belonging to the same party,” Atienza said.

Atienza made the statement shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte said he still distrusts Vice President Leni Robredo, who will remain a Cabinet outcast despite her recent designation as co-chair of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-illegal Drugs.

Duterte mentioned that he and Robredo belonged to different political parties, and that she might compromise sensitive information obtained during Cabinet meetings owing to her penchant to “talk right and left.”

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Atienza said the vice president in America is also an officer in the legislative branch who presides over the 100-member US Senate.

A vice president without a Cabinet portfolio and who has no other meaningful function “tends to end up as a mere kibitzer,” said Atienza.

If and when given the opportunity, Atienza said he would push for amendments to the 1987 Constitution so that the president and the vice president would be elected jointly, rather than separately.

“The same rule should also apply to governors and vice governors as well as mayors and vice mayors. They, too should be elected in tandem and have the same party affiliation all the time,” Atienza said.

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