(Eagle News)–Senator Panfilo Lacson has filed a bill that proposes assigning a “designated survivor” during events attended by the President, Vice President and all other high-ranking government officials.
Under Senate Bill 982 or “An Act Prescribing the Order of Presidential Succession,” the “designated survivor,” a Cabinet member, shall be sequestered in a secret and secure location prior to the event and shall act as President “kung maubos na kaming lahat,” Lacson said.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the vice president succeeds the President in the event he or she is unable to discharge his or her duties.
He or she is followed by the Senate president and then by the House speaker.
Lacson’s bill also proposes an extended line of succession from the House Speaker.
“So after the Speaker of the House of Representatives, we will continue the line of succession by having the most senior member of the Senate in terms of number of years. After that, kung mawala pa rin, naubos lahat ng senador, yung most senior member of the House,” Lacson said.
He said the “designated survivor” shall act as President only if all those named in the existing and proposed line of succession figure in an “event of an extraordinary circumstance resulting in the(ir) death or permanent disability..”
“Pag naisabatas ito, maraming di aattend ng (State of the Nation Address),” Lacson joked.
