‘Tandem vote’ for president, VP posts proposed

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian–Senate PRIB file photo / Alex Nueva España

MANILA, Philippines — In a bid to prevent the customary feuding between the country’s two highest officials, a senator plans to file a bill to amend the Constitution and have the president and the vice president elected together as one ticket.

The proposal to mandate a “tandem vote” for president and vice president, similar to the practice in the United States, would ensure they would be able to work well together, coming from the same political party or affiliation, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

“In voting for the president, his or her chosen running mate for vice president should be taken into consideration by the electorate,” he said in a statement.

“First, it would be desirable to have a president and vice president have similar platforms to keep the administration solid and running. Second, if they are allies, and something happens to the president, the vice president will be able to continue what their predecessor started,” Gatchalian said.

The senator said this would force voters to choose their leaders according to platform instead of personality.

Under Gatchalian’s proposal, casting a vote for a presidential candidate automatically means a vote for his or her running mate.

This would require amending Section 4, Article 7 of the Constitution, which states that the president and the vice president “shall be elected by direct vote from the people” for their six-year term.

Gatchalian said he was studying the possibility of introducing the “piecemeal amendment” in one measure, unlike previous unsuccessful attempts to overhaul the Constitution.