Gloria’s Cha-cha train threat to next president

By Charlie Manalo
11/08/2009


The next president after Arroyo faces the prospect of being subverted into becoming a symbolic head of the country with clear indications that the Charter change (Cha-cha) efforts will be pursued in Congress where Rep. Gloria Arroyo waits to be prime minister
based on the moves of Arroyo allies, ZTE-National Broadband Network scam whistle-blower Joey de Venecia III said yesterday.

“The winner of the 2010 elections
will be an elected president waiting to leave office from day one,” he said.

Arroyo’s allies in the House of Representatives also said there is no provision in the Constitution that explicitly bars Arroyo from participating in the elections after her term expires on June 30, 2010.

“Nobody knows for sure if President Arroyo will seek another elective post but there is no legal impediment should she decide to run. She can participate in the 2010 elections,” Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said.

Suarez, chairman of the House committee on oversight, said the country stands to benefit should President Arroyo decide to run and win the vice presidential
race, for instance.

De Venecia said the likely revival of Cha-cha can be gleaned from moves of administration supporters and the Commission on Elections itself asking the Supreme Court to junk the petition preventing incumbent Arroyo from running for a congressional seat while holding on to the Presidency.

In the 2004 polls, the Arroyo used the Office of the President with its near limitless budget plus the entire government
bureaucracy in her campaign.

“It’s all part of a series of contingency plans to stay in power,” De Venecia said. “Come May 2010, the President-elect will immediately be overwhelmed by a pro-GMA Congress which will not waste a second to railroad Charter change.”

The young De Venecia painfully remembers how administration supporters dumped his father, three-term House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, following his exposé of the graft-ridden ZTE-NBN deal worth P16 billion.

De Venecia says it is as clear as day what Arroyo and her cohorts are up to. First, she gets elected Representative in the town most visited by a seating

President in Pampanga. Second, whoever wins as President will be overwhelmed by Arroyo’s allies in the lower house pushing for charter change.

Finally, the Charter is changed and Arroyo assumes the post of Prime Minister. In effect, she will perpetuate herself and her family in power.

De Venecia believes that the challenge for the Filipino people in May 2010 is to elect as many opposition candidates to Congress who are opposed to the obvious political maneuver.

He said it is the only way to block Arroyo’s plan to keep herself, her family and her cronies in power.

“Contrary to what everyone has been led to believe, the ChaCha train isn’t dead on its tracks. It’s actually warming-up and just waiting for its last passenger – the elected lameduck President of 2010,” De Venecia warned.

Only an overwhelming opposition victory in the Senate and the House of Representatives stands in Arroyo’s way, he said. That an opposition candidate will win the presidency is an absolute certainty, Joey de Venecia III added.

“President Arroyo’s expertise and experience in running the government will further boost the chances of the next administration to succeed,” Suarez, meanwhile, said.

In a media forum Thursday, Suarez told reporters he believes that Arroyo not only can make a good vice president but that she is also capable of winning the post should she decide to give it a shot in next year’s election, running alongside the administration’s presumptive presidential bet, Defense Secretary Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro.

“Arroyo did what she could for the country, even her detractors cannot deny that. She is highly qualified as Vice President, or even as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Remember, she was Vice President before,” Suarez said.

Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo said Arroyo has worked hard since she assumed the presidency and remained a 24/7 chief executive up to this day.

“The ultimate decision on what post to run rests on President Arroyo. She has proven her competence as Vice President during the Estrada administration,” said Romualdo, chairman of the House committee on good government and public accountability.

Romualdo said it is going to be an interesting vice presidential race if ever Arroyo decides to run.

“If she wins, and there’s a big chance for that, President Arroyo will be an asset to the next administration,” Romualdo said.

Arroyo is also considering to leave the Lakas-Kampi-CMD chairmanship to prevent administration candidates particularly presidential bet Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. of being affected negatively on his chances for next year’s elections.

Aytch S. de la Cruz


Source: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20091108hed4.html