Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
MANILA, Philippines — Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Sunday took exception to “pathetic rumors” that she had been duped into a supposed House coup d’etat by a colleague who supposedly assured her it had the blessings of first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
In a statement on Facebook on Sunday, Arroyo, a former president, again denied involvement in any “political fantasy” to seize the speakership of the House of Representatives, saying, “Every politician worth his or her salt would know that in the Philippines, no House coup can ever succeed without the consent of the president.”
Disrespectful
According to Arroyo, “a report is going around that I was ‘duped’ by a congresswoman into thinking that the alleged House coup had the blessings of the first lady. I am truly sorry that she should even be dragged into this political fantasy of a House coup—it is disrespectful to her and to her intelligence.”
She did not name the representative supposedly being dragged into the controversy.
“Whoever is spreading these pathetic rumors are the ones duping the Filipino people, and they should now move on to the serious business of making positive contributions to national progress,” she stressed.
The Pampanga lawmaker emphasized three things: first and primarily, a House coup could only succeed with the President’s green light, which she said was “simply a fact of life in Philippine politics.”
Second: “I made a humble contribution to the joining of forces that became the UniTeam, and the resulting supermajority in the House is a major force for delivering our President’s agenda. Thus, I would never take any action to destroy it.”
Alleged ouster plot
And finally, Arroyo said, “I did not have any conversation, here or abroad, with any congressman or congresswoman, or any other politician active or retired, to plot, support, encourage or participate in any way in any alleged House coup.”
Arroyo lost her senior title two weeks ago, relegated to one of nine deputy speakers, supposedly over an alleged plan to oust Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and her party mate in the ruling Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).
Romualdez has since seemingly made peace with the former president over her demotion although Vice President Sara Duterte, who is Arroyo’s close ally, resigned from the ruling Lakas CMD party as an apparent offshoot of the House brouhaha.