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The Philippine Vice President has traditionally been viewed as a mere backup, a spare tire, to the President. Unlike in the United States where the VP serves as the president of the Senate and presides over the Senate’s daily proceedings, the Philippine Constitution merely suggests a possible role for the second in command: “The Vice-President may be appointed as a member of the Cabinet. Such appointment requires no confirmation” (Art VII, Sec 3 [2]). Aside from this non-binding Cabinet offer, the vice president is likewise mandated to assume the presidency in case of the death, disability, or resignation of the sitting President.

The Philippines will have its 17th president this week when President Rodrigo Duterte ends his term on Friday. President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will take over the reins of power on the same day, and I believe the event will be one of the smoothest transitions in our history.

It has been a long time since I have written about Covid-19 in this space. And for good reason. Since the Omicron-driven surge last January, the number of cases has been hovering in the low hundreds and severe cases and deaths have been very low. On top of these, hospital utilization has been very minimal. Is this the endemic phase of the coronavirus? Are we in the new normal where we all learn to live with the virus that has slowly morphed into becoming similar to the flu?