MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – It took all of five years before the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to rule on the protest of former Senator Bongbong Marcos against the election of Leni Robredo as Vice President of the Philippines. The high court all but affirmed Robredo’s election.

But in a separate ruling, the Supremes also ruled that Robredo must abide by the provisions of the Philippine Constitution which states that the Vice President has no real powers or functions except to wait for something to happen to the President. As part of the ruling, the Court issued a cease and desist order to Robredo relating to her VP position. She can no longer issue public statements as VP, or undertake her own public relations projects under the guise of providing service to the Filipino people. The court also ordered the government’s budget office to take back the Office of the Vice President’s approved budget for 2021.

Robredo herself, early on, acknowledged the “no power” provision for the VP under the Philippine Constitution: