Let’s face it; Leni can’t do Duterte’s job

There is no doubt that the question as to who killed Mayor David Navarro of Clarin, Misamis Occidental, last Friday afternoon has yet to be answered. It turns out from the news reports we read yesterday, no less than Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte had a strong suspicion that policemen were behind this killing. As the news reports go, two months ago, Pres. Duterte met with Mayor Navarro who wanted to clear his name from the drug list presented to the media.

As things are turning out today, no less than Pres. Duterte wants the Philippine National Police to terminate its probe into the killing of Mayor Navarro and let the National Bureau of Investigation handle the case. Indeed, people were totally surprised that Mayor Navarro was inside a police vehicle bringing him to court for allegedly assaulting a masseur in Cebu City when a van with fully armed men stopped the police vehicle and killed him along M. Velez Street. It was indeed a public execution in broad daylight inside a police vehicle. The president felt that allowing the NBI to investigate the ambush would ensure fairness in the probe and I totally agree with the president.

Meanwhile, Police Brigadier General Valeriano de Leon, Police Regional Office-7 director, said they are still in the process of gathering information on the suspects, numbering five to 10. The Special Investigation Task Group created to investigate Mayor Navarro’s killing will also check if there were lapses on the part of the police escorts.

If you ask me, Pres. Duterte did the right thing in moving the investigation away from the hands of the PNP to the NBI-7 in order to make it fair for the family of Mayor Navarro. I mean I would like to believe that even if Mayor Navarro did not do any harm to the massage parlor attendant, his killers would still have found a way to kill him. What I would like to know from Malacañang is whether or not Pres. Duterte cleared the name of Navarro two months ago. We will surely know about this in the next few days

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Is it true that Pres. Duterte wrote a letter to Vice President Leni Robredo to tell her that he is handing over his powers to enforce the law to her for about six months? Apparently this was the reaction of the president after he heard that Robredo quoted in a news report saying that the government should halt its "war on drugs." Already, Robredo has been chastised in social media for doing what the Yellowtards have been doing during the time of then President PNoy Aquino III where the Philippines almost became a drug haven thanks to his yellow regime.

In fairness to Robredo, last Sunday she clarified that she does not want to end the anti-illegal drugs campaign but believes that it should be reviewed and refined because of the rising number of drug users, deaths, and police abuse. However so many people have questioned this issue, whether the president can legally transfer power to the vice president. I would like to believe that the president can’t legally transfer power just because he says he would do so. The president has a constitutional mandate.

Let’s see what the 1987 Philippine Constitution says; under the 1987 Constitution, Article VII Section 8 “the vice president can only act as the president in case of the chief executive’s death, permanent disability, removal from office and resignation. Section 8 states. In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice-President shall become the President to serve the unexpired term. In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of both the President and Vice-President, the President of the Senate or, in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall then act as President until the President or Vice-President shall have been elected.”

Section 11, however, states that the president can transmit his powers to the vice president but only through a written declaration addressed to the Senate president and the House speaker. So legally, the president cannot simply transfer power to the vice president just because he wants to. So this should put an end to this unnecessary debate. In my book, Robredo cannot tackle the job of the president! [email protected]