Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has formally filed the resolution asking Congress to amend the 1987 Constitution to establish a single-ticket syste in electing the country's President and Vice President.
In filing Resolution for Both Houses No. 3, Gatchalian proposed the "tandem vote" by seeking the concurrence of three-fourths of all the members of Congress, with each chamber voting separately.
By institutionalizing a single ticket for the President, the senator said the focus of election will shift from the personalities involved to the political party's common and unified policy agenda.
“This will not only strengthen the political party system but will also provide the much-needed push to shift towards a more
unified and consistent ideological or platform-based election that will promote policy continuity and assure implementation efficiency,” Gatchalian said in his filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 3.
A single ticket voting, he said, will also encourage a more "unified policy agenda and contribute to more programmatic political debate and more effective governance."
In particular, Gatchalian seeks to amend the provision under Section 4 of Article VII to mandate the election of the President and Vice President as a single ticket.
In the same provision, Gatchalian also sought to explicitly state that “each ticket of candidates for President and Vice President shall be proposed prior to the holding of general elections by political parties or coalitions of political parties which are participants in the general elections.”
Gatchalian, who is seeking another term in the Senate in the upcoming May 2022 elections, explained that the election returns (ERs) that would be transmitted to Congress for canvassing procedure will also be as a single ticket.
The ticket of candidates for President and Vice President that will have the highest number of votes shall then be proclaimed elected.
"As shown in the past, there existed either animosity between the two higher holders of office or coalition of convenience whenever the elected president and vice president come from different political parties," he said.
The senator pointed out this has been the case in the last five presidential and vice-presidential elections which yielded a split ticket of the winning candidates.
“There is a need to strengthen the existing political party system by electing a President and a Vice President in the same ticket focused on addressing issues faced by the country and on improving the delivery of public services,” the senator said.