Take a good, long look at the upcoming term of Vice President-elect Leni Robredo; she may be the last Philippine vice president.
Incoming House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte said Tuesday (June 7) that it’s possible the country would end up with the parliamentary form of government after all is said and done in the Rodrigo Duterte administration.
It just so happened that a vice president doesn’t exist in a parliamentary system.
“In a parliamentary set up, walang vice president dun,” Alvarez told reporters in Davao.
The politiko, however, said that the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) fate would depend on the final decision of the members of the constitutional convention or constituent assembly who would pave the way for federalism in the country.
“Depende yan sa kung anong mapagkakasunduan ng members ng constitutional convention if it is a convention, or if it is a constituent assembly, kung ano magpagkakasunduan dun, yun na yun,” said Alvarez, secretary-general of PDP-Laban.
Examples of federal parliamentary states are Austria, Germany, India, Pakistan and Switzerland.
Duterte, who won the May 9 national elections via landslide, has long been an advocate of federalism.
Robredo, who ran under Liberal Party (LP) ticket in polls, will be leaving her post as Camarines Sur representative.
Last month, Duterte spokesman Peter Laviña was quoted as saying that the first elections for the federal officials could take place in 2022, or the final year of both Duterte and Robredo’s terms. (Samantha A. Giron)
