President Rodrigo Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in Malacañang Park, Manila on June 14, 2021. Richard Madelo, Presidential Photo/File
MANILA—President Rodrigo Duterte's possible bid for the country's second highest office in next year's elections is against the intent of the 1987 Constitution, one of its framers said Thursday, as it allows him to stay in power for more than 6 years.
"For the President to run for vice president is against the intent of the Constitution. It's an insidious move to circumvent the constitutional prohibition on reelection because the Vice President is the mandatory line of succession to a vacancy," lawyer Christian Monsod told ANC's "Rundown".
"Now, if you allow the President to run again as Vice President, that vacancy can be created for a self-serving purpose, which is exactly what the intent is."
Monsod, also a former poll body commissioner, said allowing Duterte to run for vice president would open the door to a term in office longer than the replaced provision of a maximum of 8 years.
"During the Constitutional Commission, the 6-year term was a compromise to the previous terms of President where he has a 4-year term plus 4 years of reelection. So, the debate was, is that sufficient? Six years? And the answer is yes," he said.
"It's good enough for a good president and it can prevent a bad one from using his powers to continue in office.
In May, the ruling party PDP-Laban voted to come up with a resolution urging Duterte to run for vice president in 2022 and to choose his running mate. Duterte serves as the current chairman of the party.
Last week, Duterte said running for the vice presidency made sense.
"There are a lot of people pushing me to run for vice president. It is a good idea, I think, particularly if we talk about the drug problem," he said in a speech in Malacañang.
His daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, has also been pegged as a strong contender to succeed him.
Duterte-Carpio has previously said she was not gunning for the presidency in 2022 but recently acknowledged she changed her mind due to the insistence of supporters.
Her political party gave her until July to finalize her plans, she said.
In January, she told her supporters to wait for 2034.
ANC, Rundown, Christian Monsod, 1988 Constitution, 1987 Constitution framer, Rodrigo Duterte, Vice President, vice presidency, 2022 elections, 2022 polls, Halalan 2022, elections