Binay wants to expand VP’s role in amended Constitution

Former Vice President Binay said on Wednesday that he wants the Constitution to be amended to give more role to the vice president, a post which he vacated in 2016.

Section 7 of Article VII of the 1987 Constitution states that the vice president can only be president if the president-elect has died or has become permanently disabled, which has led many to call the second-highest official in the country as a “spare tire.”

“Ang gusto ko sanang ma-amend sa Constitution natin ay magkaroon ng trabaho ang vice president. Katulad sa States, and vice president ay ang presiding officer ng Senate. Nasa Constitution iyon,” he said in a forum.

(I want to amend the Constitution to give more job to the vice president. Like in the United States, the vice president is the presiding officer of the Senate. It’s in their Constitution.)

“Dito ang vice president, titinga-tingala sa langit, [saying] ‘Kailan kaya ako papalit? Ano kaya ang magiging trabaho ko?” he said.

(Here the vice president just looks at the sky, wondering ‘When will I replace the president? What will be my job?”)

Binay said the role of the vice president should not be given political color, like his appointment as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III. Binay later resigned from Aquino’s Cabinet in June 2015.

Vice President Leni Robredo was also offered the same post but was later removed by President Rodrigo Duterte over “irreconcilable differences.” /ee

READ: Vice presidency is much more than a ‘spare tire’

READ: Robredo asked to stop attending Cabinet meetings, quits post