President Duterte To Run For Vice President For “Immunity” Amidst Critics’ Threats

President Duterte said that he will run for Vice President for “immunity” amidst critics’ threats.

On Saturday, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he will run for Vice President if his critics continued to threaten him with criminal charges once his term was finished on June 30, 2022.

President Duterte said during a PDP-Laban assembly that discussed the 2022 elections that his possible vice presidential bid in 2022 was to protect him from being held legally accountable for wrongdoing, claiming that the position would give him immunity from suit.

“Sabi ng batas, kung bise presidente ka, may immunity ka. Eh ‘di tatakbo na lang ako ng bise presidente. After that, tatatkbo ako ng bise presidente,” President Duterte said, referring to former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

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However, back when former Vice President Jejomar Binay claimed that he’s immune from criminal charges while he faced a plunder case, constitutional law expert Pacifico Agabin had said that the Constitution didn’t guarantee the vice president’s immunity.

According to Agabin, it’s only the president who was immune from criminal charges and that’s based on tradition because the President was busy handling affairs of the state.

Former Supreme Court spokesperson Ted Te and Dean of Far Eastern University (FEU) Institute of Law Mel Sta. Maria echoed Agabin’s sentiments in their recent tweets.

The VP is not immune from suit by law or by tradition. Non-issue. Non-story.

— Ted Te (@TedTe) July 17, 2021