After the president resigns, then what?
Twice in our history did we have presidents who, under different circumstances, vacated the presidency. They were former presidents Ferdinand E. Marcos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada. It is thus safe to assume that based on such experiences that took place only 15 years apart, we might say that we are not, as a nation, entirely strangers to such political aberration.
Then there is this present call, in rising crescendo, for His Excellency, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, to resign. For the record, I might not be a fan of the president. Truth to tell, his record as a public servant was so dismal it failed to convince me, despite his lineage, to cast my vote for him in 2010. No, I never believed in his leadership. But, ironically, I am not prepared to join this clamor for him to step down. It is importune. I do not think it is good for our country for him to vacate his post.
To be sure, a resignation by a sitting president, is constitutional. A president need not have any reason for resigning except for his idiot's love of ignominy and we have no remedy against that folly. It might be incomprehensible, even unthinkable for a person who presumably might have done everything to become president only to resign from his reign. But resignation too may be the only way for the country's chief executive to relieve himself of the burdens of incompetent leadership. I say so as I try to collate the increasing voices of our people for Pres. Aquino to step down to the depths of oblivion from the zenith of his popularity, only recently uncontested. I perceive 3 occasions that fueled the demand for him to resign.
The first incident came not very long after Pres. Aquino assumed power. A police officer with a discordant psyche held hostage a number of Hong Kongites. The situation was apparently mismanaged with the president guilty of sheer incompetence to handle police matters. It ended in the tragic death of our foreign visitors and sooner than most everyone could imagine, the president got pilloried for the bungled police action. Resign was the call aired by some intolerant segments of our society.
In my mind, the arbitrary manner with which the president allocated billions of public funds called DAP and PDAF served as the fodder for the second demand for him to resign. Admittedly, his family wallows in wealth, and he must be used to throwing oodles of pesos in any whimsical direction, with but he forgot that he was supposed to act only as the steward of the peoples' money such that he could not just distribute it in any manner he liked as if it were his own. And yes when our Supreme Court found the opportunity to caution him to be truly circumspect in fund management, many of our fellowmen cried RESIGN.
The Mamasapano massacre is the third, perhaps the biggest, reason for our people to demand for the resignation of President Aquino. A good percentage of the citizenry has judged him to be at fault for the death of 44 elite members of the Special Action Force. Their blood is in his hands and in our estimation, his relinquishment of power could be the only potion to wash away his guilt.
Well, his term of office is until June 30, 2016. That is just 15 months away. If he resigns, the constitution provides that the vice president shall become president to serve the unexpired portion of the term. In other words, if Pres. Aquino vacates Malacañang, Vice President Jejomar Binay, ceases to be the spare tire. He will have followed the historical path blazed by Carlos P. Garcia, in 1957 and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in 2001.
For more than six months now, we have seen a terrible battering on the integrity of the vice president. In the senate halls, 2 senators have heaped upon him tons of accusations of corruption. No matter the disavowal of the veep's detractors, politics could be their obvious agenda. Before the assault, pollsters showed Binay presidential drive unbeatable by unimaginable margins. While he still enjoys some lead in the current surveys, the gap has appreciably narrowed to suggest that the bashing affected the perception of many people. Even if he is presumed innocent, there are doubts now lingering on his cleanness.
If President Aquino resigns, the country's economic upsurge will probably suffer. And then we shall see the ascendancy of Vice President Binay. Is this what we would really like to happen?
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