PDP-Laban Vice President for External Affairs Raul Lambino said the Constitutional prohibition on a president running only applies for a second term as President, thus opening the door for President Duterte to take a stab at the vice presidency if he decides to run in next year’s polls.
WITH the backdrop of probable split within their group, officials of the ruling PDP-Laban declared that there's nothing wrong in calling for a "Duterte-Duterte" tandem for the 2022 national elections.
In a media interview, PDP-Laban Vice President for External Affairs Raul Lambino said the Constitutional prohibition on a president running only applies for a second term as President.
"I don’t see any constitutional or legal violation for a president running for another position...The prohibition is for President Duterte to run for President again in 2022 that is unconstitutional," Lambino explained.
During a recent "national assembly" in Cebu, the party adopted a call for President Rodrigo Duterte to run as Vice President in the 2022 elections.
The party also allowed the President to choose his running mate, while not closing the door on a possible "Duterte-Duterte" tandem with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, the president's daughter, running for his place.
Melvin Matibag, PDP-Laban deputy secretary general, said the party has enough presidential “materials” from which Duterte could choose from for a running mate.
The names that emerged, aside from Duterte-Carpio, were Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.
"What we are driving at in PDP-Laban is that when we have our consultations with our party members all over the country, we have been receiving a lot of petitions, manifesto of support urging the continuity of a Duterte administration because they have seen how the President has performed in the last 5 years and they would want a continuity of this kind of government, this kind of administration," Lambino said.
The party assembly had been a subject of dissension among several PDP-Laban members after acting president Manny Pacquiao reportedly told members to ignore the assembly, which was convened by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
Some senators, including party stalwart Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, skipped the assembly but clarified that it was not due to dissensions within the party.
“Priorities first, politics later. Work first,” Pimentel told reporters in a text message.
(ONT)
Tags:
#PDPLaban
#RodrigoDuterte
#2022elections