Senators to elect new Senate president if PDP-Laban pushes for ‘No-El’ scenario —Lacson, Sotto

The Senate is preparing for a possible “No-Election” (No-El) scenario should a faction of the PDP-Laban push to stall Eleksyon 2022, Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Panfilo Lacson said Monday. 

The lawmakers’ statements came after the PDP-Laban wing led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) seeking the reopening of the filing of certificate of candidacies as well as the postponement of the printing of the official ballots.

“I would not like to think that the intention of the petition to reopen the filing of the COCs filed by the PDP-Laban is to delay the election on May 9, 2022 - and pave the way for the extension of the term of office of the President beyond June 30, 2022. This is something the 1987 Constitution clearly forbids,” Lacson, a presidential aspirant, said.

“As I have suggested earlier to Senate President Vicente Sotto III and some of my colleagues, the Senate must not allow this to happen. We can preserve the presidential line of succession as provided under Art. VII Sec. 7 of the 1987 Constitution,” he added.

According to Lacson, a sitting senator whose term is valid until June 2025 should be elected as Senate president to ensure that the presidential line of succession will be followed.

“SP Sotto and Speaker Lord Allan Velasco are both stepping down along with the President and Vice President on June 30. If such a scenario becomes imminent, before Congress adjourns, we will elect a new Senate President whose term expires on June 30, 2025. He/she shall act as President until a new President or Vice President shall have been chosen and qualified,” Lacson suggested.

“Most of my colleagues have already agreed to this proposal, since democracy and the fundamental law of the land could be at risk,” he added.

While making the suggestion, Lacson clarified that he is not accusing the Duterte administration of “any malevolent attempt in this possible scenario.”

“What I’m only saying is that the Senate will always be the bulwark of our democracy, and I take pride in playing a major role in it,” he said.

Sotto, who is Lacson’s vice presidential bet for the 2022 polls, confirmed that the upper chamber has discussed the matter.

“Yes, we have discussed that. It’s our idea of how to resolve the problem of vacancy in the leadership. We were ten steps ahead,” Sotto said.

He also explained that Senate is not blocking anything and the body is just “resolving a Constitutional problem if everyone’s term ends in June 30 and with no newly elected officials.”

“If elections are postponed, I will step down in the last week of May upon resumption and elect a new [Senate president] (while we still have 13 votes) who will be acting President until elections are held.  They cannot replace him or her by July 1st because they will only have 12 votes,” he said.

On Monday, senatorial aspirant Lutgardo Barbo, who sits as vice chairman of the PDP-Laban wing led by presidential aspirant and Senator Manny Pacquiao, said the petition filed by Cusi’s group is a last-ditch effort to stall Eleksyon 2022.

In a statement, the Cusi-led faction said they are only “exercising its rights under the election laws.”

“Let the Comelec rule on the petition based on legal arguments/merits. Let us not focus on naysayers dwelling on conjectures and name-calling,” they said.

“The petition is based on a constitutional precept on the exercise of suffrage. And as a consequence, it is also imploring on the Comelec to resolve all issues before the ballots are printed.”

On the other hand, Senator Leila de Lima agreed with Lacson and Sotto, adding that the petition to reopen the filing of COCs “reeks of privilege.”

“The so-called dominant majority party, but without standard bearer candidates for president and vice president, is basically asking for the exclusive privilege to be exempted from the deadline for filing COCs, after all candidates serious enough to run for election in 2022 have dutifully filed their COCs within the deadline set by the Comelec. There should be no exemptions from this deadline, not even for the party of the President,” De Lima, a reelectionist, said in a statement.

She said that asking the Comelec “to condition the printing of ballots on the final resolution of disqualification cases hews dangerously close to a ‘no election’ scenario.”

“Maybe this is what the Cusi Wing wants all along, for elections to be postponed indefinitely until they get their act together. The holding of constitutionally-mandated elections cannot be left to the inability of any political party to field standard bearers on time,” De Lima added. —AOL/RSJ, GMA News