MANILA, Philippines—Be a teacher, lecturer or a full-time grandma.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will likely take any of these roles after her term expires in 2010 to dispel talk of extending her rule through Charter change, according to her son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo.

“I think she will take care of her grandchildren. I think she will go back to teaching or give lectures [as] what many former presidents do all over the world,” Arroyo told reporters Monday.

The President was an economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University before she entered the government in 1987.

Asked whether his mother was considering a plan to run as representative of Pampanga, Arroyo replied: “If she will run as congresswoman, then I’d lose my position.”

He insisted that while he supported moves to amend the Constitution, he was not leading efforts to extend his mother’s term.

“Any political amendment must be done after 2010. So many of our colleagues are committed to their own ‘presidentiables’ and I don’t think they will allow that to happen,” he said.

Arroyo found it incongruous that congressmen would back up what pollsters had tagged as the country’s most disliked leader.

Signed 2 resolutions

“GMA’s critics claim that she is so unpopular and her endorsement or association is a kiss of death to a politician’s reelection. Do you think [that] if that is true, these congressmen will put their careers on the line to extend a supposedly unpopular president?” he asked.

Arroyo said he signed both resolutions in the House of Representatives seeking Charter change, but maintained that he was not spearheading the signature drives.

Speaker Prospero Nograles wants amendments to the Constitution’s economic provisions, while Rep. Luis Villafuerte is seeking to convene both chambers of Congress into a constituent assembly.

Ms Arroyo’s son confirmed that he asked Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr. to sign Villafuerte’s resolution as part of the “collegial” spirit in Congress.

“We try to convince our colleagues and friends whatever advocacies we want. I have to admit I really want some provisions revisited like the economic provisions, especially foreign ownership. If we liberate this barrier of foreign ownership, more investors will come into our country and have more control of our money. That’s what they have been saying. I’m only interested in that specific provision,” Arroyo said.

‘No mama’s boy’

He said he did not get the President’s consent when he signed the House resolutions, stressing that he was no “mama’s boy.”

“I’m already near 40 years old and on my second term, and I have two kids. I suppose my mother will give me my independence,” he said.

Arroyo brushed off the wave of criticisms against him last week for his support for Charter change.

“The opposition will always look at what I’m doing in a bad light, that’s why they are called opposition,” he said.

To counter the Villafuerte initiative, opposition lawmakers led by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo kicked off a signature drive for a resolution rejecting a constituent assembly or a joint voting of both chambers of Congress to amend the Constitution before 2010. So far, 10 congressmen have signed.

Villafuerte’s resolution has over 150 signatories.

The influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Monday opposed renewed moves by lawmakers to amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly and called on the people to “watch, critique and denounce the manipulations of the government.”

In a statement, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, cited previous pastoral statements invoking a constitutional convention as a way to change the Charter after the 2010 presidential elections.

The bishops, he said, agreed with members of civil society in opposing any plan to extend the term of elected officials.

“Understanding the gravity of Charter change and its perceived consequences, the CBCP has expressed its negative judgment on the proposal of the House of Representatives to convert themselves into a constituent assembly,” Lagdameo said.

Honest leaders

The country needs honest leaders instead of a change in the form of government, Lagdameo said.

More urgently, he added, it should “look for and elect people who will govern us with honesty above all, with integrity, truthfulness, justice and accountability.”

“More than change the form of our government, they are those who are guilty of corruption who need to change or be changed,” Lagdameo said.

He said the country was facing the global economic crisis as its biggest problem and could lead to a “growing number of poor people in the midst of corruption.”

The bishop urged the people to “pray for enlightenment and to seek for what is best for the country in order that she may rise up with the right vision and hope.” With a report from Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas