President Rodrigo Duterte —MALACAÑANG PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — There is no law prohibiting President Rodrigo Duterte from running for vice president, and taking up the matter before the Supreme Court can be a long and tedious affair, a former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) said on Sunday.
But politicians said that while there were no legal obstacles and he still controlled the resources of the presidency, the real question was whether Duterte could even muster the minority vote that elected him to the highest office in the land in 2016.
“The Constitution does not explicitly prohibit a president from running for another office after his term as president. What it prohibits is a reelection,” said lawyer Domingo Cayosa, immediate past president of the IBP.
Cayosa said that while some might feel they could challenge the matter before the Supreme Court, the process would be tedious and drawn out.
First, Cayosa said in a radio interview, there must be an “actual controversy” before the Supreme Court would even consider the merits of the case.
“[And] not all can file a case before the SC. The person should have an actual interest, maybe a rival for the vice-presidential post,” he said.
Even Duterte’s opponents concede that he can run for a lower office in next year’s May 9 elections.
But Duterte’s critics, particularly Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite, were amused by the suggestion of the Duterte camp that the president could still rally the 16 million votes he garnered in 2016.
‘More of a liability’
Duterte’s candidacy “would be more of a liability than a boost,” Gaite said. “That tandem would carry the public’s disappointment and exhaustion from Mr. Duterte’s leadership … The President will be just excess baggage for his running mate.”
Gaite was referring to the millions of poor Filipinos who have been adversely affected by Duterte’s policies — rice farmers whose incomes were dissipated by the rice tariffication law, hog raisers who were affected by more pork imports, fishermen who lost their traditional fishing grounds to China and coconut farmers who were banking on Duterte’s failed promise over the coconut levy funds.
Those millions exclude Filipinos outraged by Duterte’s war on drugs that resulted in the deaths of thousands and enabled abusive policemen and soldiers.
Gaite said it was “clear that Mr. Duterte’s goal in running is to escape accountability for the cases waiting for him, especially the investigation of the International Criminal Court on the bloody war on drugs.”
Even rightist lawmaker, Magdalo Rep. Manuel Cabochan III, a former Navy intelligence officer who joined the Oakwood mutiny in 2003, mocked Duterte’s “interest” in a lower office.
‘Fear of retribution’
“I thought the President will resign if he fails to keep his campaign promises in three to six months? I thought he was already tired of his job? Now he has a sudden interest in being Vice President,” Cabochan said.
“That [only] boils down to two things: lust for power and fear of retribution,” Cabochan said in a statement. “Both are wrong. Let’s not add to the drama and fooling people.”
Aside from his dwindling political capital, the 76-year-old leader is also being challenged by younger politicians who have grown their influence through the years.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao, for instance, also won 16 million votes when he ran for senator in 2016, but unlike the president, the senator has conserved and expanded his political base.
Duterte is also faced with skepticism on the value of his political promises, especially after his allies launched a high-profile bid to promote the presidential candidacy of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.