MANILA, Philippines?Will she or won?t she?
Senators Sunday urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare publicly once and for all if she planned to remain in office beyond the mandatory expiration of her term in 2010 amid heightened debate on amending the Constitution to adopt the federal system.
Ms Arroyo has said she will step aside when her current term under the 1987 Constitution expires, but critics point out she has kept silent on what she will do if the Charter is amended and the federal-parliamentary system is adopted.
?I think it?s better for President Arroyo to say whether she wants to extend her term or not because the people do not want things being hidden from them. People will doubt you more if you don?t tell them straight your true intentions,? Sen. Richard Gordon said.
Gordon told dzBB radio that he talked with former President Fidel V. Ramos when he was considering initiating Charter change (Cha-cha) to revise its provision on a single six-year term for the Chief Executive so he could seek reelection.
?I asked him to tell me straight if he wanted to seek reelection because I will support you if he just says it,? Gordon said, adding that the public appreciated ?straight talkers? like Ramos.
Gordon stressed that in issues like amending the Constitution, it was important that the Arroyo administration put forward its true intentions because this required the people?s vote. He said all sitting presidents faced the ?temptation? of extending their stay in power.
?I think the best time for Cha-cha is after 2010 so the people can be informed of the proposed changes before the elections,? Gordon said.
She has to prove sincerity
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that the public deserved more assurance from Ms Arroyo.
?Right now, the President has to prove her sincerity because she has been seen as lying several times by doing the reverse of what she has said,? Pimentel said. He noted that Ms Arroyo took a U-turn in her December 2002 declaration that she would not seek reelection in 2004 and instead focus on revving up the economy.
Pimentel spent the weekend seeking to dispel in media interviews and forums the public perception that Ms Arroyo could piggyback on his federalism bill in the Senate and sneak in an amendment to the Constitution that would allow her to remain in office after 2010.
He said his bill called for the retention of the presidential form of government, not a shift to the parliament type, and that the Senate and the House of Representatives would vote separately and not jointly on the measure in a constituent assembly.
Senate vote doubtful
?I doubt if the Senate would approve the extension of term limits, she?d be lucky to get four votes in the Senate,? Pimentel said.
Gordon, chair of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, said he had yet to set a date for the start of the hearing on Pimentel?s proposed Senate Resolution No. 10 that was filed in April.
?We need constitutional experts to help us define the type of federal form of government suitable for our country,? said Gordon, who added that he did not feel any rush to start the federalism hearing soon.
A Senate majority had expressed support for Pimentel?s bill, but Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Panfilo Lacson later announced that they were withdrawing their signatures after Malacańang said it was endorsing the measure.
