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Cabinet posts held by Philippine Vice Presidents
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he is not keen on appointing Vice President-elect Leni Robredo to a Cabinet post.
Duterte and Robredo are from different political parties, the former from PDP-Laban and the latter, from the Liberal Party.
Duterte said, "she [Leni] should understand that she belongs to the opposite side. There is no law that exists that is a compelling reason for her to be a member of the Cabinet.”
Duterte likewise said the healing and reconciliation he called for after the elections did not need appointing Robredo to a Cabinet post. "There is no compelling reason for me to accommodate the Vice President. I’m sorry," he said.
Duterte said he also did not want to offend Robredo's closest rival, Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., whom he counts as his friend. Robredo beat Marcos by a slim margin of over 200,000 votes.
"Kaibigan ko si Marcos," Duterte said. "That is the political reality. Do you know that my father was a Cabinet member of the late father?"
Duterte's father Vicente served as governor of Davao from 1959 to 1969 and was also Secretary for General Services during the term of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Duterte's late mother, Soledad, on the other hand, led the Davao's Yellow Friday Movement against the late President Marcos.
Meanwhile, Robredo pledged to fulfill her campaign promises with or without a Cabinet appointment.
"Iginagalang natin ang ginawang pagpili ni Pangulong Duterte ng mga taong bubuo ng kanyang Gabinete. Bilang pangulo, nasa kapangyarihan niya ang mamili ng mga taong makakatulong niya sa pagpapatakbo ng pamahalaan," she said.
Sergio Osmeña was elected the country's first vice president in 1935. He also became president in 1944. He was Secretary of three departments: Public Instruction, Health, and Public Welfare.
Out of the 13 vice presidents the country has had, only one did not occupy a Cabinet position: Diosdado Macapagal.
The most common position held by vice presidents was Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Five vice presidents occupied this post: Elpidio Quirino, Carlos Garcia, Emmanuel Pelaez, Salvador Laurel, and Teofisto Guingona.
One Vice President was elected into office but did not exercise any power or authority. Arturo Tolentino, formerly a Senate president, became the running mate of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr in the Feb. 7, 1986 snap elections. They were proclaimed on February 16. An inauguration ceremony was held at Malacañang Palace on February 25 but they were ousted from office on the same day due to the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Marcos' predecessor, President Corazon Aquino, was inaugurated into office on the same day.
