The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday challenged the draft federal charter filed by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and 21 other lawmakers removing the vice president from the line of succession in the transition government.
Robredo branded Arroyo’s draft as “ridiculous.”
Romulo Macalintal, Robredo’s lawyer, said the draft was just “political calisthenics” based on the view of Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, that this would prevent instability due to the election protest filed against Robredo by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who lost the 2016 vice presidential race.
“The protest filed by Senator Marcos as a ground for ousting VP Leni is clearly frivolous if not outright ridiculous,” Macalintal said.
He slammed Veloso, saying a pending election protest could never be a basis of succession to the highest elective position.
A report to the House committee dated Oct. 2 showed Arroyo’s draft charter was recommended without amendment to the plenary for deliberation.
Section 4, Article XVII of the House draft federal constitution stipulates “In case a vacancy by reason of removal, resignation, permanent incapacity or death of the incumbent President, the incumbent Senate President shall act as President until a President shall been chosen and qualified.”
Under the draft charter, the first election under the federal form of government shall take place in May 2022 with winning candidates to assume office by June of the same year.
Amid concerns about the President’s health, Macalintal added: “If he is really sick, you don’t talk about succession. Instead you pray for him.”
“If your father is [terribly] ill, would you talk about inheritance and how much would each one would get?” he asked.
Both Congress and the Senate do not have the ample time to make a final draft of a federal constitution since they have yet to resolve and determine if they have to vote separately or jointly, he said.
The people and even some lawmakers were not fully aware of the federal form of government, he added.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, said in any logical presidential line of succession, the vice president acts in place of the president in the event of the president’s death, resignation or incapacity.
“Hence, the House committee draft federal charter, which skips over Vice President Leni Robredo as President Rodrigo Duterte’s successor during the transition period to federalism in the event of incapacity, is not only absurd and unjustifiable, it is also a colossal, shameless affront to long-established, recognized and practiced democratic processes,” she said.
She said this exposed President Duterte’s federalism as a sham, whose sole intent was to keep him in power.
“I am confident that the majority of my fellow senators, including Senate President Vicente Sotto III, will not support such a brazen move and will see it for what it is: an attempt not just to coopt, but to weaponize, the Senate in aid of their agenda. It must not see the light of day in the Senate,” she said.
Also on Tuesday, Arroyo assured the passage of the bill creating a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) principally sponsored by Leyte Rep. Yedda Romualdez before Congress takes a break on Oct. 13.
Romualdez said the passage of DDR into law could significantly lower the country’s vulnerability to natural hazards, protect many lives and save properties.
“We can now look forward to the future with hope, knowing that the government is ready, better equipped and committed to exert its best effort to reduce the risks that come with natural disasters, to empower local communities to rise above the different vulnerabilities that surround them and to ensure that in the years to come,” she said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta
