The term “designated survivor” has become the talk of the country after the vice president announced she will not attend this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). During an interview she said she will not attend the SONA and is appointing herself as the “designated survivor” which is a term used in the United States for a cabinet member who will be isolated in an undisclosed location during the State of the Union Address and who shall assume the office of the president in case the latter together with all those in the line succession should perish. The vice president was criticized by some who say the joke was out of bad taste and as if she is wishing for a catastrophe to strike the house of representatives during the SONA. The “designated survivor” was the subject of a popular TV series in the US which starred Kiefer Sutherland as the designated survivor which I have not finished watching yet. The Korean series with the same title and subject was released which was shorter and with a more interesting twist was subsequently released which I was able to finish. Personally, I prefer the latter. But is the concept of designated survivor applicable in our country? Well, no. It is only probably the United States that has this concept which arose during the Cold War out of its fear of an attack against its officials. In order to maintain the stability of the government and prevent the US from descending into chaos in the eventuality of such situation, the line of succession must be secure.
Our Line of Succession
For the same reason, the Philippine Constitution also provides the line of succession in case of the death or inability of the president to govern. Section 8, Article VII of the Constitution provides the line of succession where in case the office of the president becomes vacant, the vice-president shall become the president. If the offices of the president and vice-president should both become vacant, the senate president and in case of his inability, the speaker of the house shall become the acting president. The question is, in case all those in the line of succession should perish, who will be the president. This is left hanging. A situation such as this was not anticipated by the framers of the Constitution. Or have they? The same section provides: “The Congress shall, by law, provide who shall serve as President in case of death, permanent disability, or resignation of the Acting President.” The Constitution gives the power to Congress to enact a law to further secure the line of succession but until now, now such act has been passed. Apparently, former Senator Lacson initiated a bill further outlining the line of succession after watching the TV series from the US but was not pursued.
Worst Case Scenario
The Constitution only provides the line of succession until the Speaker of the House, but what would happen if those in the line of succession all perish at the same time? One probable solution would be for the remaining members of the house of representatives to choose a new speaker of the house who shall act as president “until the President or Vice-President shall have been elected and qualified”. This to my opinion is the more logical solution in the remotest probability that this situation should occur. What about the Senate, can they not convene to elect the senate president who will act as the president? Its quicker for them to convene because of their smaller number anyway. The Constitution however, is quite clear: in case of the inability of the Senate President, the Speaker of the House shall act as president.
It must be noted that there is a distinction here: if the VP succeeds, he becomes the president until the term of the former president expires. If the senate president or speaker of the house succeeds, it is only for a temporary period as an acting president or “until the President or Vice-President shall have been elected and qualified”. The VP does not become an acting president but assumes the presidency as the successor of the president. Let us pray that we will never have this scenario and this topic only remain in our imagination.
