Panelo emphasizes line of succession to presidency to avoid power vacuum

Newly appointed presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Friday it does not really matter who will succeed the presidency in case of vacancy as long as there is a clear line of succession.

“What is important, to my mind, is that there should be a line of succession regardless  who these people are,” Panelo said at a news conference in Malacañang. “There should be kasi magkakaroon ng ano ... vacuum ... [baka] magkaproblema.”

A draft Federal Constitution, prepared by administration lawmakers in the House of Representatives, stirred quite a controversy early this week for excluding Vice President Leni Robredo from the roster of successors and placing the Senate President next in line.

Robredo interpreted the provision in Resolution of Both Houses No. 15 as a ploy by her critics to remove her from the vice presidency on the premise—by the proponents—that it was crafted to prevent “instability” that may arise from the electoral protest she is facing.

The House, in a plenary session on Wednesday, decided to return the draft Charter to the constitutional amendments committee so it can put Robredo back in the sequence of succession.

Interior Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya and a member of the Palace Consultative Committee that reviewed the 1987 Charter welcomed the decision.

“We are happy that Congress decided in plenary to return or reinstate the Vice President in the line of succession,” Malaya, the federalism campaign administrator, told reporters. 

“I also believe that Congress decided correctly in restoring the line of succession. In this regard, in the draft of the Constitutional Committee, which is a presidential form of government, there is no doubt that it will be the Vice President who will succeed the President,” said Con-Com member Randolph Parcasio.

The proposed amendments to the Constitution are subject to ratification by the people, Panelo said, noting that there is a need to educate the public on the Constitution.

About three-quarters of Filipinos (74 percent) have little/almost no/no knowledge at all about the present Charter while only 55 percent said they were aware of the proposal to amend the Constitution, according to a June survey by pollster Pulse Asia. 

President Rodrigo Duterte has been pushing for a shift to a federal form of government to address national economic and power imbalances.

The President has said he would quit his post as early as next year once the proposed Federal Charter is ratified by the public. He insisted that the unitary system of government has failed the people by keeping resources and power centralized in the National Capital Region.

“But given the fact that the elections are fast approaching, we still hope that this will be implemented before elections. However, if not, then the time table of our draft is that this will be fully implemented within the term of the President,” Parcasio said. —VDS, GMA News