“No one among our top leaders should be above the law, and that the firm foundation of our democratic system of governance is the rule of law”
WHAT kind of Vice President do we have?
Of course, like the elected president in 2022, she has all the qualifications for the position. She is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least 40 years of age on the date of the election, and a resident of the Philippines immediately preceding such election.
But it looks like that’s all she has going for her. The Vice President, however, takes over the presidency in case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President. And there’s the rub.
Is Sara Duterte fit to assume the presidency if and when any of these circumstances arise?
From what we have seen and heard from her recently, it appears that she is not. She may be the logical successor as Chief Executive if we’re to go by what the Constitution says, but serious doubts have emerged as to her competence for the job.
First of all, she has a hyperinflated ego.
She says she could have won the presidency in 2022 if she had insisted on running as president and not given way to Bongbong Marcos, her UniTeam partner.
She also insinuates that since she garnered more votes than BBM in the 2022 presidential elections, she is more popular and deserving of winning the presidency in 2028.
She likewise believes that as the Vice President, she is not accountable to any other government institution or agency for her behavior and actions in office.
That’s not all. Our Vice President appears to have misplaced priorities She had consistently ignored summons from the House quadcomm investigating her alleged misuse of confidential funds running into hundreds of millions of pesos while she headed the Department of Education in a concurrent capacity until September this year.
She has also ignored two summons from the National Bureau of Investigation to explain grave threats she made to have the President, First Lady and the House Speaker killed if she is murdered by her perceived political enemies. She uttered these in a foul-mouthed online rant that grabbed headlines not only here but also abroad, thus conveying a bad impression of herself before the international community.
Sara Duterte has also ignored the call of the Department of Justice for her to face government prosecutors and explain the grave threats she made on live television, claiming the agency is biased and cannot be expected to render a fair verdict.
But the DOJ has given assurances the agency would listen to what she has to say and consider all possible evidence presented, including testimonies from other witnesses, and her attendance in the probe is part of the legal process.
Now, she wants to have private security because she doesn’t trust the government and the military to provide her with adequate security because she claims to have received death threats.
She asked for a 400-member security detail called the Vice Presidential Security Protection Group when she assumed the second highest elective position.
Since the AFP has recalled her security detail, she wants to have her own private security group—a private army, no less—that is accountable to no one but herself.
In other words, she thinks she’s above the law.
Given all this, it is not surprising that she now faces two impeachment complaints before the House of Representatives filed by various civil society groups.
If the two impeachment complaints are consolidated into one and this passes muster in the House and sent to the Senate acting as the impeachment court, we will have to consider the composition of the Upper Chamber where the Vice President has known supporters who are expected to mount a spirited defense of her and prevent her from being removed from office.
But a consolidated impeachment complaint against the Vice President is likely to be endorsed by the majority of the House which is after all dominated by political parties allied with the administration.
The question is: Will the impeachment complaint prosper and lead to the removal from office of the second highest elected official in the country?
That, of course, remains to be seen. But even as we know that after the Christmas and New Year break, the campaign for the May 2025 midterm polls will already gather steam and occupy people’s attention, we should bear in mind that no one among our top leaders should be above the law, and that the firm foundation of our democratic system of governance is the rule of law.
(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
