Bongbong as transition VP? 'Could easily happen,' says Davide

Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. thinks ex-senator and defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. could run for and win the vice presidency during the country's proposed system shift to federalism.

Davide speculated that Marcos, who still wishes to be declared vice president, could be chosen as the running mate of President Rodrigo Duterte, who is not explicitly barred from running as transition president after the imagined ratification of a new Constitution.

"As a matter of fact, I mentioned that that could easily happen," he told ANC Wednesday in reference to his remark during a Senate hearing on Tuesday where the Consultative Committee (Con-com) presented its proposed Charter.

The Con-com recommends the election of a transition president and vice president after what it hopes would be the ratification of its draft federal Constitution.

The committee also suggests tandem voting for the President and Vice President, leading Davide to say on Tuesday that if Duterte were to run as transition President and choose Marcos as his running mate, the latter "will easily win."

Davide also thinks the election of a new transition Vice President would render Marcos' ongoing election protest case against Vice President Leni Robredo, a charter change critic, "moot and academic."

But Marcos' spokesman, lawyer Vic Rodriguez, said the notion was "too forward to even cross" the former senator's mind.

"We do not deal with mere conjectures," he told GMA News Online.

The Con-com also suggests banning Duterte from running in the 2022 polls in accordance with his request, in order to allay suspicions that the current drive towards charter change would enable him to extend his term. —KG, GMA News