There is no iota or ounce of doubt that the second highest official of the land has an independent mind. She has a man-sized temper, and she showed the nation on TV news sometime ago when she gave a local sheriff a straight fistful anger for crossing her.
She doesn’t only speak her mind about something.She walks the talk. She quit her Cabinet post as education czar under the so-called unity team and gave now reason for it. Whatever it was, it was enough that she gave the post up that quickly , period. That says a lot.
Her decision also said something about what the unity is all about. It’s no longer there, even if President Bongbong Marcos keeps on insisting it still exists. In meantime, only PBBM believes the unity that he forged with the Dutertes is still intact notwithstanding his running mate’s surprise moves.
As if to raise the ante, the vice president declared that she wouldn’t be around for the State- of—the-Nation -Address of PBBM. She also said she would not watch it on TV or listen to it. She would be both physically and mentally absent from a very important event for the nation.
Besides, she has a little fear or premonition in mind. She has self-declared herself the designated survivor in case something bad happens to PBBM and his Constitutionally -appointed survivors all vanished into thin air. She must be thankful to the president sister-senator for giving her the flimsy idea of a very remote possibility. Better be safe and survive than be sorry. It’s a poor joke or a bad dream, if it’s not an unkind wish.
As if to make the national conversation even thick and fast with intrigues, she has taken an abrupt decision for a vacation abroad with her family in the midst of a storm that devastated the country. So sorry, apologized the president’s sister-senator, the Veep had no prior information.
Obviously, PBBM needed a big help in sorting out and fixing the nation’s problems as a result of the storm . And there was no VP around to lend a hand. Her presence would have made a big difference just her absence was felt in a big way. The VP, after all, is not just a spare tire. She is really part of the working structure in politics.
It’s about time the Philippine Constitution is amended vis-à-vis the Vice President. There is an obvious need now to consider making the running mate of the president automatically elected if the president is elected. We can borrow from the American practice of doing the same thing and giving the vice president the headship of the Senate.
By acting as the Senate president, the vice president will not just be a symbol of a non-working office but truly a vital part of a democratic system .
There is logic and pragmatism in the idea. It will create a more harmonious working relationship between the President and the Vice President, thereby promoting a strong executive tandem to lead the nation in a cooperative, not opposing, endeavor.
Right now, the vice president is virtually cast on the opposing side of the fence. For instance, rightly or wrongly, the VP is questioned by many for her silence on the dispute between China and the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea. Her recent announcement that three Dutertes—the former president and two brothers will join the senatorial fray in 2025 to bolster the opposition against the Marcos Administration.
It doesn’t help her that negative statements are coming every now and then from the Duterte camp, especially from the former president, further exacerbating the apparent break in the much-ballyhoed, but now much maligned political unity.
Between now and the possible constitutional amendment and the presidential derby in 2028 is a long time. She may have the patience to wait for her turn or not , given her age. But definitely there’s more that is expected from her as she plays out the role of a VP or a spare tire, a s the case maybe..
Like former US Vice President Al Gore, she has reached this far in the P hilippine politics and she wouldn’t be content with just saying that she used to be the next president of the Philippines.
There’s ,at least, another constitutional successor on the line to PBBM, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, standing in her path who is known to publicly cast a moist eye on the presidency. He seems to be getting the favor of his president cousin in this direction.
On the other hand, former President Gloria Arroyo and Sen. Imee Marcos are the wind beneath her wings. The political battles in 2025 will somehow give shape to that political agenda. But right now, PBBM is already in saddle while the VP and her supporters, to quote late PBBM’s father, are still in the saddle.
There’s also the ever -present threat of the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe on the crime against humanity committed during the war on drugs under the previous administration. The fallout could affect the VPs political fortune, one way or the other
Recent polls show that the VP’s political numbers are falling as a result of the designated- survivor declaration and the continuing issue in the WPS, among others. How she’s going to change the political calculus will depend on how audacious she is willing to show herself as a political leader. So far, she’s shown she’s far from being a bore, and is moving the political needles, one way or the other.
