SEN. Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson yesterday pushed for immediate Senate committee action on his “Designated Survivor” bill proposing an extended line of succession when the President becomes indisposed to exercise his functions as the country’s top elective official due to death, permanent disability or resignation.
Lacson said the immediate passage of his proposed Senate Bill 982 will ensure the continuity and stability of government operations and avert a possible constitutional crisis and leadership vacuum when the president and the three officials in the constitutional line of succession cannot discharge their duties due to the three debilitating circumstances.
Lacson said that recent events involving “exceptional circumstances” such as terrorism, highlight the need to address the soonest time possible the limitations of the 1987 Constitution’s provision on the line of succession.
Under the Constitution, the vice president will take over as acting president when the latter is no longer able to function due to death, permanent disability, or resignation. If the VP cannot function due to the same reasons, the Senate president will follow, and if the Senate president is likewise incapacitated, the House Speaker takes over. The buck stops with the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Lacson said that if Congress fails to pass the necessary legislation in extending the line of succession beyond the top leader of the House, a constitutional crisis is likely to happen “if all four top elected officials, God forbid, die in one event such as the SONA (State of the Nation Address) due to a terrorist attack in the Batasang Pambansa, or any occasion where the president and all three officials in line of constitutional succession are present.”
If such tragedy occurs, Lacson said the government will be at a loss.
He urged the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes and laws to immediately conduct a hearing on SBN 982, which he filed in August last year.
“Or appoint me as subcommittee chairman, as I am willing and ready to sponsor and defend such an important piece of legislation on the Senate floor,” he added.
Lacson said it was “unfortunate” that Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito-Castelo (2D), author of the counterpart measure in the House of Representatives, withdrew her proposed House Bill 4062, which she filed last Aug. 20, 2019.
Under Castelo’s bill, the President will be given authority to choose a successor who was not part of the succession line as stated in the Constitution.
In a statement, Castelo said she was withdrawing the bill to dispel any notion that she was for “ignoring or scrapping the constitutional line of succession to the presidency.”
Lacson said under his proposed measure, in case of death or permanent disability of those in the constitutional line of succession, the following elected and appointed officers who are not under any disability to discharge powers and duties of the Office of the President shall act as president in the following order: the most senior senator based on the length of service in the Senate, the most senior representative based on length of service in the House, and the member of the Cabinet designated by the president.
Lacson’s bill also proposed that before any public or private activity, event, or function with the attendance of the president, vice president and other ranking officials, the president shall designate a member of the Cabinet to be sequestered in a secret and secure location.
The bill also said that the acting president’s official actions pertaining to the day-to-day operations of the government shall remain effective unless revoked by the elected president within 90 days from his or her assumption or re-assumption of office.
