Disqualification charges are being readied by some sectors against President Arroyo and will be filed the moment she files her certificate of candidacy (CoC) for a congressional run, reliable sources told the Tribune yesterday.They also claimed that Arroyo has scheduled her filing of CoC on Nov. 28, although this date could not be confirmed by independent sources, nor Palace sources, since officially, Arroyo is up to her guessing games.
At the same time, the administration Lakas-Kampi party will reportedly be facing major problems with its candidates filing of their CoCs, that is if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) does not look the other way, and will not respect its issued resolution regarding the deadline of the official party signatories in nominating the Lakas-Kampi candidates which may not allow substitution.
This may result in the Lakas-Kampi candidates having to run as independents, owing to the flaw in official signatories.
It appears that the Comelec had issued a ruling that gave registered political parties a deadline in which the official signatories for party nominees had to submit the documents saying that they are the party’s signatories.
Other political parties had submitted the documents on time. Lakas-Kampi was also
said to have submitted the necessary documents, naming, however, at the time of deadline, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Presidential Adviser of Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio as the party’s signatories for nominees.
The problem, sources pointed out to the Tribune, is that it was after the deadline imposed by the Comelec that the Lakas-Kampi had a change of officials, and thus, the new officers become the official signatories for the party’s nomination as their candidates running under the Lakas-Kampi parties. The deadline has already lapsed.
“They (party members running under the Lakas-Kampi banner) may have no choice but to run as independents, since technically, they can’t be nominated by Ermita and Claudio, who are no longer the officers of Lakas-Kampi.”
The party’s standard bearer is former Defense Secretary
Gilbert Teodoro, with Edu Manzano, former Optical Board chairman and a TV game show host.
The sources said that technically, since the deadline has lapsed, the Comelec should no longer entertain a change of official nominating parties, which should therefore mean that the administration’s official candidates cannot officially run under the party banner of Lakas-Kampi.
Moreover, they pointed out, it would be difficult to antedate the change of nominating officials, since it was evident that the change of officials for Lakas-Kampi came during the national convention, whose date is of public knowledge and after the Comelec deadline ended.
“It has to do with the rules of substitution,” the sources claimed.
In the case of the complaints of disqualification once Arroyo files her CoC, the grounds would be that which is found in the Constitution, under the proviso which says that any president may not run for re-election.
This proviso is said to refer to the sitting president, and placed in the Constitution to ensure that government funds and resources will not be utilized by an incumbent chief executive for election purposes.
“Even if she is not running for the presidency again, she (Arroyo) will still be running for another elective position while she remains in Malacañang, with all the government resources at her disposal, to ensure her victory in the second district of Pampanga,” the source said.
Arroyo has gone to Pampanga over 40 times and has been distributing land titles to the residents, along with health cards and other government goodies, as well as inspecting projects in the second district.
She is believed to run for the Pampanga seat with the aim of becoming the next Speaker of Congress.
Her son, Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, who had earlier claimed that his mother would not seek a congressional seat, is now being vague about running for the same seat.
Others have said that the younger Arroyo will be “as powerful” in Congress, since he has been tapped to be his mother’s chief of staff.
It is expected that the Commission on Elections, will not decide against Arroyo in any disqualification case, as they are all her appointees.
Source: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20091125hed4.html
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