No deadline to name VP

President Arroyo is in no hurry to name her vice president.

Presidential Spokesman Renato Corona told reporters yesterday the choice of a new vice president was deferred by Mrs. Arroyo because the matter was "very decisive."

Corona said the vice president must be chosen from among members of the Senate and House of Representatives as provided under the Constitution.

Corona, who is also Mrs. Arroyo’s chief of staff, refused to name the contenders for the nation’s second highest post, but many believe the Chief Executive will choose Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona, who is her partymate.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was endorsed to Mrs. Arroyo yesterday as the next vice president by the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

In a resolution yesterday, the ARMM lawmakers said: "Senator Pimentel who hails from Mindanao, which is engulfed in Muslim secessionist and communist rebellions, possesses such qualities required to effectively realize the policies and progress of the new administration for peace and unity."

A copy of the resolution was sent to Malacañang yesterday by ARMM Speaker Kabilan Sema and Secretary General Wilson Anni.

The other contenders are Senators Franklin Drilon, Renato Cayetano, Raul Roco, and Loren Legarda; and former Speaker Manuel Villar Jr.

House Assistant Minority Leader Prospero Pichay (Lakas, Surigao del Norte) called on Mrs. Arroyo yesterday to immediately name a vice president to ensure political stability.

"If we fail to select a vice president when Congress goes on recess on February 9, then there will be a vacuum in the second highest position in the land until August when the 12th Congress opens," he said.

Pichay said a vice president should be named as soon as possible to prevent political adventurers from taking advantage of the situation.

"What happens when the President goes on official trips abroad or when there are official functions which require the presence of the Vice President such as presidential inauguration?" he said. – Marichu Villanueva, Efren Danao