House bill to address possible ‘no-el’ in 2010

A House panel on Wednesday approved in principle a bill proposing that the Senate's most senior member take over as acting president in case there is a failure of elections in 2010. The House committee on Revision of Laws, chaired by Isabela Representative Giorgidi Aggabao, adopted in principle House Bill 3194 filed by Nueva Ecija Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson. The bill provides for the manner in which an acting president will be selected in case the president, vice president, Senate president, and speaker of the House "fail to qualify or is unable to qualify or is unable to assume and discharge the functions of the Office of the President." "The deal answers the question of a no-el (no election) scenario or a total failure of elections," Joson told GMANews.TV in an interview. Former President Fidel V. Ramos last Saturday raised a no-election scenario when he cautioned members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1978 against staging a coup or putting up a military junta before May 2010 to prevent the conduct of an election. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is an adopted member of PMA Class of 1978. During its hearing earlier in the day, the panel agreed that the most senior Senate member would be the one who garnered the most number of votes in the last elections and who still has three more years remaining in office. Senator Loren Legarda, a presidential aspirant in the 2010 elections, topped the 2007 senatorial elections. Under the proposal, the highest ranking senator would serve as acting president until the President-elect is proclaimed, Joson said. The rest of the 12 senators would be next in line, followed by the Supreme Court chief justice and other justices of the high court. The bill however is yet to have a counterpart in the Senate. - GMANews.TV