President Rodrigo Duterte’s possible reelection as Vice President may be questioned before the Supreme Court but there are limits to do this, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) immediate past president Domingo Cayosa said Sunday.
Cayosa previously said there is no explicit provision in the 1987 Constitution that bars President Rodrigo Duterte from running as Vice President.
Section 4, Article 7 of the Constitution says: "The President shall not be eligible for any re-election. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time."
This could be challenged before the SC but there should be an "actual controversy" to do so, Cayosa said.
“The (Supreme Court) can't just give an opinion or a ruling. There must be an actual controversy. The SC is avoiding giving an opinion on all issues unless there is a case brought to them,” he said.
A person directly affected by Duterte’s supposed vice presidential run is also the one who can question its constitutionality before the high court, Cayosa pointed out.
"Not everyone can file a case before the SC. The person should have an actual interest. Maybe a rival for the Vice President post,” he said.
Cayosa admitted that the 1987 Constitution is not perfect as there are provisions that lack clarification.
"The Constitution was fundamentally a reaction to the Marcos dictatorship. Since this is the origin, there were some points that were not clarified,” he said.
In a speech last week, Duterte revealed that he is considering running for Vice President in 2022 to avoid being a lame duck during his last year in office.
“Alam mo ‘yun… as a lame duck, posturing ‘yan. Political posturing so that they will not treat you badly,” Duterte said in a speech during the inauguration of the LRT2 East Extension Project.
“To maintain the equilibrium, consider me as a candidate for (the) vice presidency,” he added.
The ruling party PDP-Laban also formally petitioned him to run for VP as running mate of a presidential candidate of his choosing.