Batas Mauricio WHY is Vice President Leni Robredo not the acting President while President Duterte is off on his first state visit? The answer is that, the 1987 Constitution does not allow a vice president, like Leni, to become acting president. There is no provision for an “acting president” in the Constitution, which was promulgated during the presidency of Corazon C. Aquino. What the 1987 Constitution contemplates is only a permanent vacancy in the Office of the President, not a mere temporary inability. In its Section 8, Art. VII, the Charter provides that: “In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice-President shall become the President to serve the unexpired term...” In a situation where the President is merely absent from the Philippines, as when he is on a state visit or some other official function abroad, he remains to be president. He is thus expected to continue discharging his duties and responsibilities, since modern technology allows him to communicate with his officers who are in the country anyway, as if he is just around the corner.
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Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo is right--we must trust President Duterte in his declaration of a “state of lawlessness” on account of the Davao City bombing that killed 14 people in a night market in the locality. For who else should we trust when bombs are exploded in an area frequented by ordinary citizens, in wanton disregard of the laws? Duterte, after all, is the duly elected president of the Republic, chosen by 16 million or more Filipinos. By virtue of his position, Duterte is in possession of all vital information on the bombing, including the perpetrators who evidently planned the mayhem to shame him not only before our own people but even before world leaders in the Asean meeting. Besides, it is the right of the President to declare a “state of lawlessness” when, in his judgment, violence has escalated to a level that mocks the law and the duly constituted authorities. Surely, one need not be a President to see that the Davao City bombing constituted “lawless violence” that needed to be addressed, with the mobilization of all armed forces in the country.
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I am watching with deep concern the ongoing ruckus between South Korea and North Korea, triggered by the defiant and continuing firing of ballistic missiles by North Korea. International news agencies reported Monday that North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, while South Korea and China, North Korea’s main ally, talked during a world leaders’ meeting in Hangzhou, China. It would seem to me that what is happening between the two Koreas at this point has something to do about a sign predicted to happen a long time ago that, before the end of the world shall come, “nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.” A brief glimpse into the history of Korea--North and South--will show that it was a country ruled by kingdoms known as Silla, Hubaekje, Hugogoryeo. Those kingdoms are no longer here today, but the division of Korea into the North and the South in 1945 effectively created two distinct kingdoms of Koreans which, as predicted, are not at war with one another. Indeed, as the predictions prophesied a long time, when these signs are now happening, including others which were also predicted and which are similarly occurring at this point, the end is certainly near. E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com