MANILA - The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo hit the alleged plan to abolish the Office of the Vice President under the PDP-Laban-backed Charter change proposal.

Robredo's legal adviser, lawyer Barry Gutierrez, stressed that the OVP has been in Philippine government system for 80 years, and the only time it there was no vice president was during the dictatorship of the late Ferdinand Marcos.

"The question therefore is, how does abolishing the OVP relate to the establishment of Federalism? Or is the abolition already in service of some other, unstated, agenda?" Gutierrez said in a statement on Sunday.

The OVP's statement came after former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said the proposed Charter change of PDP-Laban may abolish the position of Vice President.

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The line of succession under Section 7, Article VII of PDP-Laban's proposal does not mention a vice president at all, the leftist leader pointed out.

Senate President Koko Pimentel, who is also PDP-Laban's president, said in the political party's book "The Quest for a Federal Republic" that they do not think a vice president is needed in their proposed form of government.

Meanwhile, Colmenares has also raised concerns that President Rodrigo Duterte will be allowed to run for reelection in 2022 under the proposed Charter.

The Duterte administration has pushed for Charter change to pave the way for a shift to a federal system of government, which they said will be vital to fighting poverty in Mindanao and ending a Muslim separatist insurgency there.