MANILA -- The House of Representatives' constitutional amendments committee on Monday reinstated the Vice President in the line of succession under its draft federal charter.
The panel, headed by Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, approved in an executive session the return of the provision where the Vice President is the first successor to the presidency ahead of the Senate President during a proposed transition period.
"Yes, (it was) already approved," Veloso confirmed in a text message to reporters.
The panel amended Section 4, Article XVII on the Transitory Provisions, which puts the Senate President, not the Vice President, as next in line of succession to the presidency.
In October, the lower chamber recommitted Resolution of Both Houses No. 15 (RBH 15) to the House committee on constitutional amendments "in order to introduce perfecting amendments" on the failure to include the Vice President in the first line of succession during the transition period to federalism.
RBH 15, which proposes revisions to the 1987 Constitution, was authored by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and 21 other legislators.
It proposes a presidential-bicameral-federal system of government and empowers Congress to establish federal states.
It also lifts the term limits for members of Congress.
The first election under the proposed Constitution shall be held on the second Monday of May 2022.
The term of the President and Vice President, which shall end in 2022, shall not be extended. The incumbent president is prohibited from running in the 2022 elections. (PNA)
