‘Arroyo’s Cha-cha opens up her possible return to the presidency’

‘Arroyo’s Cha-cha opens up her possible return to the presidency’

NERI COLMENARES

Colmenares on Arroyo’s draft charter

Bayan Muna Chairman and former Rep. Neri Colmenares today (Oct. 9) said that the Resolution of Both Houses No. 15 which Speaker Gloria Arroyo filed contains provisions which could catapult her back to the presidency.

“ While Article XVII section 2 provide that the incumbent president and vice president shall continue in office until 2022 it surprisingly states in section 4 that in case Pres. Duterte dies or is removed from office, the incumbent Senate President takes over instead of the incumbent vice president. It takes out the vice president from the line of succession. Of course if the Senate president is also incapacitated or removed from office, the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives which happens to be Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo becomes the president.

“The fact that Leni Robredo’s position is under protest is not a justifiable reason to take her out of the line of succession. Leni Robredo is officially the incumbent vice president notwithstanding the election protest of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. If the proposed constitution is ratified and VP Robredo subsequently wins the election protest she can no longer be the constitutional successor of Pres. Duterte.

This practically negates the will of the voters who voted her VP on a flimsy and absurd reason that making her the constitutional successor will lead to confusion because of the election protest. Vice presidents, senate presidents and even speakers of the house have been subject to election protests in previous occasions but this did not take them out of the constitutional line of succession. So among the real reasons for the Cha-cha is to take Robredo out of succession to give Gloria Arroyo a shot at becoming president once more should Pres. Duterte suffer incapacity or dies. Buhay pa ang presidente pinag-iinteresan na pwesto nya.” said the chairman of the progressive Makabayan bloc.

“Of course another reason why VP Robredo is taken out as successor is that Dutertes lackeys are afraid that she will hold them accountable for their illegal acts when Pres. Duterte was still in power. While Constitutions are not designed to fit the personal interest of political leaders, Arroyo’s Cha-cha is.”

“Additionally Arroyo’s Cha-cha cuts the terms of all the members of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Commission on Audit (COA), and the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
Article 17 Section 12 state that the term of office of the COMELEC, COA and CSC would cut to one (1) year upon the ratification of this constitution. This gives Pres. Duterte the power to appoint all the members of all the constitutional commissions. If this happens, Pres. Duterte will control the commission that oversees our elections, the commission that audits all government transactions and the commission that decides who is suspended or removed in government office. Arroyos Cha-cha is, among others, nothing more than a power grab and another attempt by Arroyo to become president once more,” ended Colmenares.

(PRESS RELEASE)