The President is eligible to run for Vice President

Published: October 29, 2022

By: Kurt Raphael C. Salcedo (4th Year Political Science Student)

In June 2021, the PDP-Laban Party urged former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to run for Vice President in the 2022 National and Local Elections. Former President Duterte accepted the nomination despite the opposition of some legal luminaries that he is proscribed by the 1987 Philippine Constitution to running for Vice President.

Since he accepted the nomination, the debate about the eligibility of an incumbent President to run for Vice President became heated in social media and traditional media. Lawyers and legal scholars proffered different views on the issue. However, the issue quickly faded when former President Duterte withdrew his acceptance of the nomination and expressed his desire to retire from politics after his term.

Despite the former President’s retraction, the issue of whether an incumbent President is constitutionally allowed to run for Vice President remains unanswered until today. This article will argue that based on a textual interpretation of the Constitution and the intent of the framers thereof, an incumbent President is allowed and eligible to run for Vice President. What the Constitution does not directly proscribe cannot be indirectly proscribed.

Section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides:

“The President and the Vice President shall be elected by direct vote of the people for a term of six years which shall begin at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following the day of the election and shall end at noon of the same date six years thereafter. The President shall not be eligible for any re-election. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.”

A plain reading of the aforementioned constitutional provision gives us the idea that the President’s term is limited only to six (6) years and he is ineligible for any reelection. Constitutional framers explained that the limited term is intended to avert the re-emergence of another despotic leader like what happened in the past when Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. arbitrarily and indefinitely extended his term until he was deposed from his office via the People Power Revolution in 1986.

The issue as to whether or not an incumbent President is eligible to run for Vice President emanated from the phrase of Section 4 of Article VII that “the President shall not be eligible for any re-election.” Those who support the view that the President is eligible to run for Vice President explain that what the phrase meant is the President cannot run for President again. On the other hand, those who oppose such a view contend that to allow the President to run for Vice President is to run counter to the spirit of the Constitution.

Although no former President sought the Vice Presidency in the recent history of Philippine elections, however, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ran for and won a Congressional seat immediately after her term in 2010. Also, former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada sought the Presidency anew in 2010 but lost to the late President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. These political experiences support the view that there is no express constitutional provision that prohibits an incumbent President from running for Vice President.

In spite of the unambiguous language of the Constitution, a distinguished Constitutional Law Professor said that the President is not allowed to run for Vice President because of the fundamental ethos of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which is to “prevent the monopoly of powers of the President just like what happened in the 20-year Marcos dictatorship.” He further explained that “if we allow the President to run for Vice President, that can be seen as a circumvention of the fundamental constitutional ethos or directives, which is to prevent the monopoly of power of the individual.”

Similarly, a Law School Dean held that the phrase "shall not be eligible for any reelection" pertains to the ineligibility of the President to run for any of the offices mentioned in the preceding statements, which is the President and Vice President. For to allow the President to run for Vice President, even if not allowed, is to indirectly permit what is not expressly permitted by the Philippine Constitution.

While I agree with the view that the limited term is intended to prevent the monopoly of executive powers and avert another despotic leader, I am not convinced by the argument that to allow the President to run for Vice President is to violate the fundamental law of the land. The reason being is there is no express constitutional provision that supports such view. The constitutional framers clearly made the ethos in the first place to prevent the President from running for another term in the same office and not to prevent him from running for Vice President or other lower elective offices.

With all due respect to the respected lawyers and legal scholars, it is my humble submission that the President is eligible to run for Vice President and other elective offices, except the Presidency on the following grounds:

First, the provision indicates that the President and the Vice President hold separate and distinct offices. It bears stressing that the article “the” between the two highest public positions indicates that albeit they assume their offices at the same time and length, their terms are different because the President is not eligible for re-election while the Vice President may hold the same office twice if he/she decides to run for another term;

Second, after providing for the time of assumption and length of office, the Constitution expressly provides that “the President shall not be eligible for any re-election.” The word “any” refers only to the President and does not include the Vice President. What is prohibited by the Constitution is the President will seek another term for the same office. There is no express prohibition that an incumbent President cannot run for Vice President. Thus, the President is qualified to run for Vice President;

Third, re-election refers only to the President because the Vice President can be reelected once. To prohibit the President from running for Vice President when the Constitution does not proscribe it is to unlawfully amend the Constitution without a reasonable basis. Any previous President may run for any public office as long as he is qualified therefor, except the Presidency because he/she is not eligible for reelection;

Fourth, the Vice President is not included in the phrase “for any re-election” simply because he/she can run for the same office for a second time. This supports the interpretation that the constitutional framers do not prohibit an incumbent President to run for Vice President. A contrary interpretation would create another provision that does not exist in the first place;

Fifth, if the President later becomes the Vice President and, at the same time, a Cabinet Member, the latter can only invoke Section 11 of Article VII if there exists an inability on the part of the President to discharge the powers and duties of his/her office, subject to the determination of both Houses of Congress, voting separately by a two-thirds vote.

Sixth, when a Vice President, who is the former President, assumes the Presidency because the incumbent President resigns, dies, or is impeached from office, he/she assumes the Presidency by succession and not re-election. Clearly, there is no constitutional provision violated or circumvented because the Vice President is the lawful and constitutional successor of the President; and

Seventh, when the words of a constitutional provision are clear, they should be interpreted based on their plain meaning. There exists no vagueness in the phrase “any re-election” because the words used in the provision are not prone to a different interpretation. The plain-meaning rule should apply in this issue such that when the President’s term is over, he/she can run for any public office, except the Presidency. What is expressly allowed cannot be implicitly prohibited. Any apprehension of instability should be taken with a grain of salt for being premature and conjectural.

To prohibit an incumbent or former President to run for the position of Vice President without express prohibition in the Constitution should not be supported. In Chavez v. Judicial and Bar Council, G.R. No. 202242, July 17, 2012, the Supreme Court underscored that the language employed in the Constitution must be given their ordinary meaning except where technical terms are employed. As much as possible, the words of the Constitution should be understood in the sense they have in common use. What it says according to the text of the provision to be construed compels acceptance and negates the power of the courts to alter it, based on the postulate that the framers and the people mean what they say.

In the absence of an enabling statute that bans political dynasty, any reference to or use of the term is without force because the force to elect a candidate from the same kin or family is a decision, for good or bad reasons, that ultimately rests upon the Filipino voters. To interpret otherwise is to undermine the freedom of choice of the people to choose their next leader.

What the Constitution proscribes is an incumbent President seeking another term for the same office. It does not proscribe the President to run for Vice President and other elective offices. A counter-argument to such a view will only have weight and credence if the same is supported by textual interpretation, jurisprudential rule, or the express intent of the constitutional framers. Without any legal anchorage, the counterargument deserves scant consideration for being a political question.

Thus, the President is eligible to run for Vice President.