Press Release
March 22, 2010

ANGARA CALLS FOR ELECTION OF NEW SENATE PRESIDENT

Senator Edgardo J. Angara yesterday called for the election of a new Senate president whose term is not expiring on June 30 to ensure that somebody will be in charge in case elections fail on May 10.

In a radio interview, Angara said the Senate has to step in and elect a new leader when sessions resume on May 31 to prevent a leadership vacuum in case the country's first nationwide automated elections turns out to be a failure.

Angara, a former Senate president who still has to finish half of his six-year term until 2013, noted that the terms of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Prospero Nograles would all expire on June 30.

This means nobody would be at the country's helm after that in case of an election failure, he told dzBB radio. "It's an imperative, a necessity to do this for the survival of the republic."

He added, "If we broke the succession line, there will be a vacancy, a political vacuum... There are suggestions that while the Senate is still whole, we should choose a new [Senate] president whose term does not end on June 30."

Angara warned that if the civilian authority does not prepare for this, the military would certainly come in because it does not want the country to end up in chaos. However, he's quick to say that electing a new Senate president was not so much a vote or lack of confidence in the present Senate president.

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