Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, who has filed a protest to contest the vice presidency against sitting VP Leni Robredo, could still end up as the country’s ‘transition’ vice president.
This scenario was put forward by former chief justice Hilario Davide, Jr. who said that Marcos Jr. could run for and win the vice presidency during the country’s proposed system shift to federalism.
According to Davide, Marcos may be chosen as running mate of President Rodrigo Duterte, who is not explicitly barred from running as transition president after the ratification of a new Constitution.
“As a matter of fact, I mentioned that that could easily happen,” Davide said, referring to the remark he made during a Senate hearing on Tuesday where the consultative committee (Con-Com) presented its proposed Charter.
The Con-Com had recommended 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 speculate that if Duterte wishes to run as transition President, he could choose Marcos as the running mate.
Davide said that Marcos Jr. could easily win this time.
If that happens, Davide said, the election protest filed by the former senator against Robredo would be rendered “moot and academic.”
But Marcos’ spokesman, lawyer Vic Rodriguez quickly downplayed the scenario, saying that the notion was “too forward to even cross” the former senator’s mind.
“We do not deal with mere conjectures,” Rodriguez said.
The Con-Com has suggested 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 was being made to extend his term.
