No legal question yet on Duterte’s possible VP bid —PDP-Laban exec

PDP-Laban deputy secretary general Melvin Matibag on Wednesday said there are no legal questions that can be raised yet against President Rodrigo Duterte’s possible vice-presidential bid in Eleksyon 2022.

“So maganda po dito, i-file nila [ang petition] but at this point, hindi naman nila ma-file kasi wala pang legal question. Haka-haka pa lang,” the attorney said in a virtual press conference.

[It would be better to file a petition about it but at this point, they cannot file it because there are no legal questions yet. This is all still speculation.]

He was responding to queries about PDP-Laban’s preparations in case a vice presidential bid by the President is questioned before the courts.

Moreover, Matibag insisted that Duterte’s possible vice presidential run is in line with the Constitution.

“Walang nilagay sa Constitution na bawal yung president tumakbo na vice president o ibang pwesto e. Alam niyo sabi samin sa batas, when the law is clear you just apply it. Maliwanag ang Constitution ang sabi niya re-election [ang prohibited],” he said.

[It is not stated in the Constitution that the president is not allowed to run for vice president or other elected positions. In the law profession, we say, "When the law is clear, you just apply it." The Constitution is clear that only a reelection of the presidential post is prohibited.]

He also countered the arguments that Duterte’s possible vice-presidential bid is against the spirit of the Constitution.

“Kung ayon ang reasoning kasi si Pangulong [Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] pinayagan natin maging congresswoman, naging speaker of the House. Baka nakakalimutan nila na nasa order of succession ang speaker of the House. Number four po ‘yan. Wala na po agad ang argumento,” he said.

[If that is the reasoning, then why did we allow former President Arroyo to be a congresswoman where she became a speaker of the House. We should not forget that the speaker of the House is included in the line of succession. She is number four in the line of succession. So that argument is invalid.]

“Before you go to the spirit of the Constitution, you go first to the letters of the Constitution,” he further argued.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon earlier said Duterte’s possible run for the country’s second top post “goes against the spirit” of the 1987 Constitution and warned of “serious problems” in the future in the line of succession to the presidency.

“While the wording of the Constitution does not prohibit the President to run for any elected position, to run for vice president would contravene the spirit of the Constitution and could pose a serious problem of succession to the presidency later on,” Drilon, a former Justice secretary, said.

Human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno also said that this would violate the spirit of the Constitution.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) immediate past president Domingo Cayosa recently said that Duterte's possible election as vice president can be brought before the Supreme Court.

He, however, said there should be an "actual controversy" to do so. — BM, GMA News