MANILA, Philippines ? All the signs point to President Macapagal-Arroyo running for a congressional seat next year, as some officials and even her election lawyer have noted.

All that is needed is for her to actually file a certificate of candidacy, said Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio.

As more than a hundred supporters from Ms Arroyo?s Pampanga home province staged a rally in Malacañang Friday to urge her to stand for the province?s second-district seat, Romulo Macalintal, the President?s election lawyer, said she would be making an announcement before the day ended.

A beaming Ms Arroyo thanked her supporters but did not respond to their clamor.

Panlilio said the Malacañang rally was an indication that the President was running.

?She will run. It?s just a matter of filing the CoC,? he said.

Talk is rife that the President, who is stepping down next June, will file her candidacy certificate in Pampanga between Saturday and Dec. 1, the deadline for filing set by the Commission on Elections

Body language

Macalintal, who showed up at the conferment of the Order of Lakandula on CNN Hero of the Year Efren Peñaflorida at the Palace early Friday, jokingly told reporters, ?of course, of course? when asked if the President would be filing a CoC soon.

But he was serious when he said she would be making an announcement that day.

Macalintal later told reporters the President was giving the matter of running for Congress ?deeper consideration.?

?Based on her body language, she?s considering it,? he said.

?Because of the clamor, she said she was giving it deeper consideration,? he said.

If she does decide to run, the President?s lawyer said Ms Arroyo would file her CoC on Dec. 1 and that under the law, she does not need to resign from the presidency.

Macalintal said he thought Ms Arroyo had invited him to Malacañang early Friday for the announcement. But it turned out she merely wanted to consult him on the implications of Cabinet officials resigning to run for public office, he said.

Need not resign

Commission on Elections commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said there was no legal obstacle to Ms Arroyo?s running for a House seat, until someone files a complaint against her candidacy and the Comelec rules against her.

Larrazabal said Ms Arroyo is not required to resign after she files her candidacy certificate. Only appointed officials are obliged to step down once they become candidates, he said.

?That?s why you have senators running for President who are not considered resigned. After the elections they are still senators,? he said.

Larrazabal said the Comelec would accept the President?s CoC but would also entertain complaints and opposition to her candidacy.

?Harmless rally?

As the awarding rites for Peñaflorida ended, residents from Ms Arroyo?s Lubao hometown and six other Pampanga towns began gathering at the Palace grounds in front of the Kalayaan Hall, chanting ?GMA! GMA! GMA!?

People took turns urging the President to represent them, using an owner-type jeep mounted with loudspeakers as a stage.

After 20 minutes, Ms Arroyo emerged from the hall to chants and cheers from her supporters. She waded into the crowd, greeting and shaking hands with supporters who had alighted in Mendiola from several jeepneys and walked the rest of the way to the Palace.

?Don?t fail us. We?ve traveled far to come here. Some of us are even sleepless,? said Jun Panganiban before handing Ms Arroyo a manifesto.

Ms Arroyo thanked them, walked up the steps to the hall, and waved before disappearing inside the building.

?We prefer her to Mikey,? said Celso Kabiling, referring to the President?s son, Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, the second-district?s incumbent representative.

The supporters said they don?t mind her sliding down to a lower-ranked position so long as she continued serving in government.

Asked how they were allowed into the tightly guarded Palace, some of the leaders said they had coordinated with officials.

Palace officials explained that it was a ?harmless rally? and that the participants were Ms Arroyo?s province mates, anyway.

The day ended without Ms Arroyo making any announcement of her plans.

Obvious signs

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the public should wait for the ?proper announcement,? but admitted that there was a strong clamor for the President to run.

?I am aware of the strong clamor but cannot judge her body language if it?s too loud for her to ignore,? he said.

According to Panlilio, the signs that Ms Arroyo was running were very obvious. He cited the Pampanga Mayors? League resolution urging her to heed the clamor, the distribution of leaflets calling on her to run from the President Macapagal-Arroyo for Congresswoman Movement, and yesterday?s Palace rally.

?If she has no plans, she should have categorically declared she?s not interested,? he said in a phone interview.

Today, a group of Pampanga leaders will be paying a courtesy call on Ms Arroyo to urge her ?to serve her kabalen [province mates],? Remonde said.

?If she runs it?s to serve the people, and not to protect herself,? he said.

The President has this year made more than 40 visits to Lubao and other areas in Pampanga?s second district to launch or inspect infrastructure projects, fueling speculations that she intended to run for a congressional seat to extend her stay in power. But she has so far managed to keep her plans to herself.