MANILA, Philippines--(UPDATE 3) President Macapagal-Arroyo ended on Monday, months of suspense over her political future by announcing that she would seek a seat in the next Congress representing the second district of Pampanga.

Ms Arroyo claimed her decision to run was the product of both her desire to pursue public service and heed what she called “clamor” by her province mates.

“After much contemplation, I realized I’m not ready to step down completely from public service,” she announced in a guided interview with the government-run “Radyo ng Bayan”.

“Gaya ng alam ninyo, hinihilingan ako ng mga mamamayan ng aking tahanang distrito sa Pampanga na manatili sa buhay-publiko (As you all know, I have been asked by the citizens of my home district in Pampanga to stay on in public life), so after much soul-searching, I have decided to respond affirmatively to their call,” she said.

Already the second-longest serving Philippine president next to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, she apparently did not bother with criticisms that her congressional run was ultimately intended to reinstall her as prime minister in case of a shift to a parliamentary government.

“That speculation is so hypothetical (that) I won’t even bother to speculate on it,” she curtly replied in the ensuing question-and-answer that sounded like she was reading from a script.

Romulo Macalintal, her election lawyer and designated campaign spokesperson, said Ms Arroyo would attend Mass in Lubao town Tuesday morning, then deliver a message to her constituents in the second district.

But mayors supporting her congressional bid would file her certificate of candidacy for the President, at the Commission on Election office in San Fernando afterward, according to Macalintal.

Despite her candidacy, Ms Arroyo made it clear that she would be “firmly in control of our national government until the last day I am in office.”

“As president, my first commitment is to the nation we all love. My bid for Congress is spirited, but secondary to my duties as president,” she said.

“I am completely confident that I will perform the duties of (the) presidency with the same level of intensity and commitment I have always had. I will remain steadfast and responsible to the nation until my last day in office,” she added in the interview, while sounding as if she were reading from a set of prepared answers.

In her remaining months as president, she promised to "focus on the executive's duties to help the Comelec perform its role."

"Then I will work cooperatively with the incoming administration so that they can hit the ground running," she said.

Ms Arroyo said she would also need little time to campaign in her home province, which she had visited for nearly 50 times already—more frequently in the weeks leading to her announcement.

Asked if Ms Arroyo did not have to campaign much anymore because she had been doing so already over the past few months, Macalintal said “she was just doing her job” then.

Not seeking immunity

Ms Arroyo said she was not after the immunity she would get as a member of Congress in the face of threats that her political opponents—should they wrest control of Malacañang in 2010—would send her to jail.

“The only congressional immunity is from libel suit and utterances made in a congressional session—that’s not what I’m after,” she said. “I have come to the conclusion that I can best serve the nation from a seat in Congress should I be elected.”

In breaking the biggest story of her post-Malacanang future, Ms Arroyo sought not to face the private media and instead opted for quick—and controlled—interview with the government radio station.

Malacañang reporters got her announcement through a replay of the Radyo ng Bayan interview.

Malacañang said Ms Arroyo—who very rarely made herself available for media interviews since the “Hello Garci” scandal in 2005—in fact, “took some time from her tight schedule” to accommodate the radio announcement.

Ms Arroyo spoke of other options after her tenure in Malacañang.

“I have been thinking of many opportunities and one day, I hope to pursue them. For example, I plan to go back to teaching or work for causes near and dear to me like climate change, improvement of education, and the cause of women,” she said.

“These opportunities will remain open in the coming years. But now, the best way to continue to champion the things I love is in Congress,” she said.

Asked why Ms Arroyo would not run for governor or mayor if she indeed wanted only to serve her Pampanga constituents, Macalintal said: “The Office of the President is a co-equal department of the legislative department. In her congressional bid, it doesn’t mean she’s going to a lower office.”

Macalintal also downplayed the possible impact of Ms Arroyo’s candidacy on that of the administration’s standard-bearer, former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro.

“I’m sure Mr Teodoro has his own campaign strategy. For me, we should vote or decide (based on) the strength of Gibo on the basis of his own qualification and not on whatever circumstances surrounding the announcement of the President.”

Macalintal admitted that Ms Arroyo could still do public service without eyeing another elective post, but deferred to the President’s decision.

“History will be the judge whether she made a good decision,” he said.

Priding her self for moving the economy forward, creating jobs, and establishing good international relations during her term, Arroyo said she intends to give the same effort, this time to her province mates.

She said she was looking forward to stepping down in June next year, but wanted to be continuously involved. She said she thought of going back to the academe to teach or work for non-profit organizations to push forward environment and women’s issues.

The signs have been present that she was not retiring yet.

Last Friday, a group of farmers form Pampanga trooped to Malacanang and urged her to continue serving them by running next year.

On Thursday, the Pampanga Mayors’ League circulated a resolution signed by 20 town mayors urging Arroyo to “heed the clamor form her constituency to run as second district representative…in Pampanga.”

Arroyo is a registered voter in Lubao, the hometown of her father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal. Lubao is among the six towns in the district, the second vote-rich area in Pampanga after the third district.

The President has visited Pampanga 47 times this year, 18 of which were made in Lubao, according to a previous Inquirer report.