MANILA, Philippines - If there is any institution that can derail the supposed plan of President Arroyo to extend her term or the possibility of a military takeover in case there is a failure of elections on May 10, it is the Senate.
This is according to representatives Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and Edno Joson of Nueva Ecija, and former senator Ralph Recto, who is seeking re-election under the Liberal Party.
“The key to preventing an extended GMA term or a military takeover lies in the hands of our honorable senators. For the sake of national interest, they should set aside partisan politics, get their act together and resolve the issue on the succession to the presidency in accordance with the Constitution,” Rodriguez said.
Joson said senators Benigno Aquino III, Manuel Villar Jr., Richard Gordon and Jamby Madrigal should convince their colleagues to provide the solution to the succession problem “because they might have no presidency to take over since GMA will still be there.”
“The extended GMA scenario is now complete. May military na, may Supreme Court pa (There’s the military plus the Supreme Court),” he said.
Joson and Rodriguez are proponents of a succession bill that seeks to expand the line of succession to the presidency so that there would be an available successor in any eventuality.
For his part, Recto said senators could prevent the military junta scenario from happening.
“There is half of the Senate, the ones with unexpired terms, whose members can proceed to elect a new Senate president who can then serve as our acting president. To this constitutional leader must our soldiers’ loyalty go,” he said.
“In short, there will be no leadership vacuum to speak of. A junta this July has as much chance as snow in Manila in December,” he said.
“Evil men may lurk, but I am eternally hopeful that the better angels of our nature will prevail. In the meantime, in an election that promises change, let us appeal to our people’s brightest dreams than to their darkest fear,” he added.
Rodriguez said the Constitution actually anticipates a situation where there is a failure of elections and the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates cannot be determined and proclaimed.
He quoted Article VII (Executive Department) Section 7 of the Charter:
“Where no President and Vice President shall have been chosen or shall have qualified, or where both shall have died or become permanently disabled, the President of the Senate, or in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall act as President until a President or Vice President shall have been chosen and qualified.”
Rodriguez said incumbent Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Prospero Nograles cannot act as President because their terms of office are expiring at noon on June 30, together with that of President Arroyo.
He said though Enrile is seeking reelection, a failure of elections would affect not only the votes for president and vice president but those for senatorial candidates as well.
“I would be happy to have Manong Johnny (Enrile), who is my party mate in Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, as our acting President, but that may not be possible,” he said.
However, he said that senators still have time to elect a new Senate president among the 12 of them whose term of office ends in 2013 “so we will have an acting President just in case of a failure of elections.”
He said Enrile and his colleagues could choose their new leader on May 31, when Congress resumes session to canvass the votes for president and vice president.
“By then, it should be clear to our honorable senators and to the entire nation if there is a problem in determining the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates,” he said.
He added that proposals to choose another official to act as the nation’s temporary leader would run afoul of the Constitution.
Rodriguez revealed that the Mindanao power shortage is what is giving him fears about the possibility of a failure of elections.
“They are not solving it. Up to now, we have daily brownouts lasting up to six hours in Cagayan de Oro City. It will be chaos on May 10 if this situation remains,” he said.
He reiterated that President Arroyo “and her loyal military chief, Gen. Delfin Bangit, would find themselves in a dilemma if the elections fail in case there is no Senate president or Speaker who can assume the presidency temporarily.”
“GMA could remain in office as holdover president, although there is no such thing in the Constitution. Alternatively, since congressional votes will not be affected by an election failure, her allies could choose her as Speaker ahead of the July 26 convening of the next Congress, another scenario that does not exist in the Constitution,” he said.
“However, her loyalists in the Supreme Court could justify either of these scenarios – her being a holdover president or her election as Speaker while Congress has yet to convene – so she could stay in power beyond the expiration of her term,” he said. - By Jess Diaz (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
The military take-over in Ghana;: Broadcast speech by the chairman of the National Liberation Council, Lt. Gen. J.A. Ankrah, February 28, 1966
