‘The tandem of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Sen. Tito Sotto sees these developments as an attempt to postpone the national elections and extend President Duterte’s term.’
THERE have lately been attempts by several lawyers to ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to postpone the elections scheduled in May this year.
A group of lawyers who identified themselves as officers of the National Coalition for Life and Democracy (NCLD) petitioned the poll body to postpone the elections on account of the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, particularly the highly infectious Omicron variant. They filed their petition last Dec. 10, 2021 when the COVID-19 resurgence was not yet serious. Now that we are hitting more than 10,000 new daily cases, they felt that their position is tenable and so they asked the Comelec to schedule a hearing on their petition.
Another development on the political front is the attempt by the PDP-Laban Cusi wing to reopen the filing of certificates of candidacy, requesting for a reset in the printing of ballots.
This group, to which President Duterte belongs, said political parties should be given more leeway in nominating their candidates. The poll body has deferred the issuance of a resolution with regards to this petition.
The tandem of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Sen. Tito Sotto sees these developments as an attempt to postpone the national elections and extend President Duterte’s term.
Since the extension of Duterte’s term is blatantly unconstitutional, Lacson has convinced his colleagues in the Senate to do everything to frustrate this plan, if there is such a plan.
Lacson said to preserve the presidential line of succession as provided for under Article VII Sec. 7 of the 1987 Constitution, a new Senate President would be elected before Congress adjourns its sessions in June. The new Senate President, whose term will expire on June 30, 2025, should act as President “until a new President or Vice President shall have been chosen and qualified.”
Although the senator said that he is not accusing the administration of any malevolent attempt in this possible No-el scenario, he maintains that the Senate of the Philippines “will always be the bulwark of our democracy.”
Senate President Sotto said he would step down in the last week of May so a new Senate President is elected who will serve as acting president until elections are held. “They cannot replace him or her by July 1st because they will only have 12 votes,” Sotto said.
This scenario will resolve a constitutional problem if everyone’s term ends on June 30 and there are no newly elected officials. It is good that the Senate exists as a continuing body even if national elections are disrupted by natural or man-made disasters.
