CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines -- The Pampanga Mayors’ League (PML) has set the stage for the possible candidacy of President Macapagal-Arroyo as representative of the province’s second district.

In Resolution No. 77 signed by 20 town mayors in a special session, the PML urged the President to “heed the clamor from her constituency to run as second district representative in…Pampanga.”

Ms 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.

Should Ms Arroyo file her certificate of candidacy, she would go down in history as the first Philippine president who slid down to a position lower than the presidency.

Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, PML president and Ms Arroyo’s godson, said the resolution was signed two weeks ago. The Philippine Daily Inquirer got a copy from a source in Malacañang on Wednesday.

Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, the district’s incumbent representative, on Thursday did not answer queries if the President had agreed to the PML’s call.

Arroyo, now on his second term as the district’s representative, also did not answer questions if he would give way to his mother’s supposed bid.

The PML said Ms Arroyo should seek a seat in the House of Representatives because “undeniably, all the towns and barangays of the second district [received] benevolence from Her Excellency.”

Records from the Philippine Information Agency showed that the President, as of Wednesday, had made 47 visits in the district in 2009. Eighteen of these visits were made in Lubao.

The frequent forays fueled speculations about Ms Arroyo’s congressional bid as a supposed stepping stone to lead a move in the House to amend the Constitution and change the form of government from presidential to parliamentary.

“No time in political history that the head of state has gone her way to visit and reach out to people in borders of community far and near just to extend her passion for service,” the mayors said in the resolution certified by PML secretary-general, Minalin Mayor Edgardo Flores, and approved by Pineda.

They cited the President’s “exemplary work ethic and genuine public affection” that were “beyond reproach.”

The mayors said her “consistency and focus to achieve goals for progress and development” have silenced the loud criticisms against her.

Orlando Macaspac, Ms Arroyo’s former adviser on police matters, credited himself and said his President Macapagal-Arroyo for Congresswoman Movement has “won.”

“Now they found it necessary and joined me in the open,” Macaspac said in a telephone interview.

Macaspac, since September, has been distributing leaflets urging Ms Arroyo to run in the second district.

University of the Philippines professor Randy David and former Pampanga Vice Gov. Cielo Macapagal-Salgado, Ms Arroyo’s elder half-sister, declined to comment on the mayors’ resolution.

David and Salgado were among the people identified as Ms Arroyo’s possible challengers.

Gov. Eddie Panlilio said: “I respect the PML for [its] initiative.”

“I still believe that [Ms Arroyo] should also heed the call of other people to give way to other leaders who can serve Kapampangans in an efficient and effective way,” he said.

Several INQUIRER sources belonging to religious and civic groups said Kapampangans in the second district might resort to a “quiet revolt” by not supporting Ms Arroyo out of delicadeza.

“The general perception is that the second district is loyal to [Ms Arroyo]. That is not true. We used to be proud of her. Not anymore. The scandals [in her administration] are many,” said a pastor who declined to be named to avoid being harassed by local politicians.