<![CDATA[Netflix show inspires 'designated survivor' bills in Philippines]>

Inspired by a television series on Netflix, two Philippine lawmakers have each filed "designated survivor" bills to let the president choose a successor in case a catastrophe wipes out the country's senior leadership.

Currently, the Philippine constitution sets out a line of succession from the president to the vice-president, senate president and then speaker of the house of representatives (the lower house, or Congress), but does not go beyond that.

The separate bills, filed by senator Panfilo Lacson in the upper house and congresswoman Precious Castelo in the lower house, seek to give the president the power to choose a cabinet member to take over in the event of the constitutional successors dying or being incapacitated.

The Philippine Congress ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation address. Photo: AFP

Lacson told reporters he was influenced by the Netflix political thriller Designated Survivor, in which the lowly housing secretary is catapulted to the presidency of the United States when the rest of the national leadership is wiped out in a bomb attack during the state of the union address.

According to Barry Gutierrerz, spokesman of vice-president Leni Robredo, there are only a few occasions when the entire Philippine leadership is gathered together and presumably vulnerable to being wiped out. "In practice, possibly the State of the Nation Address (SONA) and during the congressional proclamation of the president and vice-president elect."

Both bills stipulate that the "delegated successor" would be kept in a "secure and secret location" for the duration of an event such as SONA.

Critics have attacked the bill as violating the constitution and possibly being part of a plot to let President Rodrigo Duterte name his successor.

Duterte has publicly mentioned several times in the last few years how tired he is, and how he would like to hand the presidency over to someone else. Among those he has mentioned are former senator and current Sorsogon province governor Francis Escudero and Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jnr, the son of the late dictator. Marcos has no government position, having lost the 2016 vice-presidential election to Robredo.

Vice-president Leni Robredo and President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: EPA-EFE

The Duterte administration has been particularly hostile towards Robredo, and asked if a designated survivor law might be used to displace her, Gutierrez said the government would not be able to remove her from the order of succession through a law, and would either need to amend the constitution or remove her from office.

"I think succession is on a lot of people's minds because of the persistent rumours about the president's state of health, so it is not too much of a stretch to start thinking about succession laws in such a context," Gutierrez, a law professor and former congressman, said.

But he does not see it as "a clear play to further entrench the current leadership, it is too roundabout for that".

Even if the bills were prioritised, he said it would take at least a year to 18 months to pass a law, meaning it may not happen before the end of Duterte's term in 2022.

Besides, Gutierrez pointed out that "it's easier to simply handpick someone already in the line of succession", noting how Duterte personally chose " and got " congressman Alan Peter Cayetano to be speaker of the house.

Asked why the two bills would be filed almost simultaneously, Gutierrez said "I blame Netflix", adding that the disaster both bills provide for "is really extraordinary and unlikely".

Actors Kal Penn, left, and Kiefer Sutherland, right, in the Netflix series Designated Survivor. Photo: AP

The Philippines has had 15 presidents since 1935. Three died in office and were succeeded by their vice-presidents. Two where chased out of office: Ferdinand Marcos was replaced by Corazon Aquino in 1986 and Joseph Estrada was succeeded by vice-president Gloria Arroyo in 2001. Dictator Marcos, according to documents unearthed after he fled, had his own designated successor " his wife, Imelda Marcos.

Gutierrez said a law laying down a longer succession list is actually long overdue and called for by the constitution, but the problem with the proposed bills is that "both of them empower the president to choose a successor ... no self respecting democracy lets an elected president handpick a successor; he is not a king".

What should be passed, he said, is a law laying down a succession specifying and ranking cabinet members. "The more crucial thing, to my mind, is establishing a clear order of succession."

Or, Gutierrez proposed, there could be an even easier solution: "Simply apply a policy that the vice-president does not attend the SONA. Unlike in the US, the vice-president here does not preside over the Senate so does not really need to be present."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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