By MBJ on December 1, 2009
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MANILA – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday confirmed her plan to run for Congress in the May 2010 elections to represent the second legislative district of her home province of Pampanga in Central Luzon.
In a recorded interview over government station radio DzRB which was later aired nationwide over radio and TV Monday afternoon, the President explained her decision was in response to the growing clamor of her constituents in the province to run in next year’s polls so they could have a voice in the House of Representatives.
“After much soul-searching, I decided to accede to the wishes of my constituents in the second congressional district of Pampanga to run in the May 2010 polls,†President Arroyo stressed.
Moreover, she said that while in Congress, she could help pursue and implement her policies to help the poor as well as the major reforms she has initiated which shielded the country from the adverse impact of the ongoing global financial and economic crunch.
But the President’s announcement came as no surprise to many Filipinos. Earlier, speculations were rife that she would run for Congress next year due to her frequent visits, especially to the second district of Pampanga, starting early January.
As of Saturday, the President made a total of 50 visits to Pampanga to inaugurate, among others, the opening of farm to market roads, new school buildings and even projects to provide potable water to far-flung “barangays†(villages).
The speculations heightened when her son, Congressman Mikey Arroyo, announced he was willing to give up his post in her favor. Mikey, who is now on his second term as congressman, is allowed to run for reelection because under the law he can serve up to three consecutive terms.
Mikey added that if his mother decides to run for his post, he would join the May 2010 elections as the representative of a party list group, which he, however, refused to identify.
Besides, legal experts, led by her lawyer Romulo Macalintal, pointed out there is no law or a provision in the 1986 Constitution, banning the President from running for a lower elective office after she has completed her term in Malacanang.
Macalintal cited as an example the case of US President John Quincy Adams who ran and won as congressman for his home state in the US House of Representatives after he stepped down from the White House.
Besides, Macalintal, who told mediamen he was allowed by the President to speak on the issue, said she wants to continue serving the people as he stressed: “The President is still young and she feels that there’s still a lot of things she can do to continue public service.â€
In the same interview, meanwhile, the President disputed allegations she wants to run for Congress so she could claim immunity from the various criminal and civil suits which various quarters have threatened to file against her in court once she is out of power.
The charges include plunder for alleged unabated and massive graft and corruption involving her and her family as well as human rights violations, particularly in the killing of militants, members of the religious and journalists.
The President pointed out that if she wins as member of Congress, she would only be “immune†from criminal cases that could arise when she delivers a controversial privilege speech.
She also laughed of claims that in running for Congress, she would be preparing for the possibility of her becoming prime minister if the issue of Charter change (Cha-cha) being pursued by her supporters would succeed.
Cha-cha aims mainly for a shift in the change in the form of government from the present presidential system to federal parliamentary.
According to President Arroyo, there have been options which she has been seriously considering when she steps down on June 30, 2010 after serving as president for about nine years since since she took over Malacanang following the ouster of president Joseph Estrada in February 2001.
One such option, she said, is to go back to teaching. Even while she was already vice president, Mrs. Arroyo used to teach economics and related subjects at the Ateneo de Manila University which is run by priests belonging to the Society of Jesus.
Another option, the President said, is to join a non-government organization, which she did not identify, actively engaged in projects and programmes similar to the policies she has implemented while in Malacanang.
But the more overriding reason why she has chosen to stay in politics, the President said, is her concern to serve the people of Pampanga, the home province of her father, the late president Diosdado Macapagal.
She disclosed she already alerted her representatives to file her certificate of candidacy before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in her hometown of Lubao also on Tuesday, the deadline set by the Comelec for the filing of such certificates as ordered by the Comelec.
In the same interview, President Arroyo pointed out she would not resign from her position as demanded by the opposition, civil society as well as militant and religious groups.
Until she steps down from Malacanang on June 30,2010, she vowed to continue the commitments she has made as President, including the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, her pro-poor programmes and bringing to the bar of justice the perpetrators of the November 23 massacre of at least 57 people in Mindanao.
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