THE framers of the 1987 Constitution must have had their reasons for why they kept the practice of voting for the president and the vice president separately. But, frankly, it is just an illogical and irrational idea for the simple reason that it defies the very principle of ensuring continuity in the program of governance should something bad happen to the president.

It is no longer a mere possibility, but now a glaring reality that a different vote for the president and vice president would produce a split ticket with them coming from different political parties or alliances. It is now a fact that Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo is the frontliner of the political opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte. And in a political landscape that is too toxic and divided, this is a sure formula for uncertainty and discontinuity.