ni ROSE NOVENARIO
HINDI makalulusot si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa mga kasong kriminal na isinampa laban sa kanya bunsod ng madugong drug war kahit manalo pa siyang vice president sa 2022.
“If he can force (Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte) to accept him, he will run. Because he wants some protection,” sabi ni Antonio La Viña, legal expert at dating dean ng Ateneo School of Government, sa panayam sa The Source sa CNN Philippines kahapon.
Giit niya, hindi makakukuha ng proteksiyon sa Office of the Vice President si Pangulong Duterte mula sa mga kaso sa International Criminal Court (ICC), Ombudsman at daan-daang murder cases na inihain laban sa kanya.
“Because this time around, the families of those who have been killed are not going to stop, nothing’s going to stop them from trying to get justice,” aniya.
Kahit aniya walang nakasaad sa 1987 Constitution na basehan upang i-disqualify si Duterte sa pagkandidato bilang vice president, magsisilbi itong paraan para manatili sa kapangyarihan.
“Textually speaking, a former president can run for vice president from a legal point of view. Question is, since the vice president can be the successor of the president, can the vice president therefore be a former president? Because in a way, that is a re-election to the presidency which is prohibited through the backdoor,” sabi niya.
“That’s why we are saying, the spirit of the law says that the president cannot be a candidate and cannot assume the position of vice president because the only job of the vice president is to become president when the president resigns, when he dies or is incapacitated,” dagdag niya.
Kamakalawa, inihayag ni Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque na hindi itutuloy ni Pangulong Duterte ang vice presidential bid kapag tumakbong presidential bet ang anak na si Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Hindi ito nagustuhan ni Sara at nanawagan sa kanyang ama at sa ruling party PDP-Laban na huwag siyang gamiting dahilan kung itutuloy o iaatras ang kandidaturang Go-Duterte sa 2022 elections.