MANILA - Mayors in the 2nd district of Pampanga want President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to remain in power because they don't want to lose their connection to someone high up in the government."Ang amin lang, gusto namin na hindi mawawala sa puwesto ang ating Presidente. Iba lang ang may nilalapitan ka sa itaas (We don't want our President to her power. It's an advantage having someone who we can approach high up in the government)," Guagua town Mayor Ricardo Rivera told ABS-CBN's morning show Umagang Kay Ganda.
Rivera confirmed a newspaper report that he and other mayors belonging to Pampanga's 2nd district, which includes Lubao, Sta. Rita, Porac and Sasmuan, are coming up with a petition asking Mrs. Arroyo to run for a seat in the House of Representatives.
He said the petition will be released to the public before the deadline of the filing for the certificates of candidacy in November 30. He also clarified that the petition would not only involve the mayors from the 2nd district, but the whole province of Pampanga.
"We want to come up with a resolution to encourage her to run as our congresswoman," the mayor said.
Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares reminded the mayor that the work of a congressman or congresswoman should not revolve around "pork barrel."
"Ang isang kongresista ay tagagawa ng batas, hindi para sa projects (A congressman's job is to create laws, not projects)," Colmenares said.
He said people clamoring for Mrs. Arroyo to run for a seat in Congress should think of the negative political implications.
"If she is perpetuated in power, we wouldn't know the truth about the Garci tapes, the NBN-ZTE deal. Sa tingin ko, hindi iyon ang iniisip ng mga taga-Pampanga (I think the people of Pampanga are not mindful if these)," the party-list representative said.
Colmenares and Bayan Muna had actively pushed for Mrs. Arroyo's impeachment.
The news about the mayors' pending petition came after her deputy spokesperson, Lorelei Fajardo, said in a media briefing in Malacañang last week that there was a clamor in Pampanga for the president to run for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2010.
'Speaker GMA to push for Cha-cha'
Colmenares said he believes Mrs. Arroyo will try to remain powerful by taking over the leadership of the House of Representatives and using this as leverage from possible criminal prosecution.
"The prosecution of the president is something that's on her mind all the time. It's not her option to be served with a warrant of arrest and be arrested," he said.
He added: "She has to do this whether or not she succeeds. The intention here is to keep her in power."
He agreed with some critics' forecast that if Mrs. Arroyo wins as Pampanga representative in the 2nd district, she will wrest control of the House by becoming the speaker and aggressively push for Charter change, particularly a shift to a parliamentary system of government.
"If the government is shifted to parliamentary, she can become prime minister," he said, adding that the position would provide Mrs. Arroyo the same opportunity to appoint more allies in several branches of government, particularly in the judiciary.
as of 11/03/2009 12:44 PM
Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/11/03/09/why-pampanga-mayors-want-gma-run-congress
who will vote for GMA? stupid. idiots. morons and corrupt. So if you vote for her, you know what kind of voter are you.
ReplyDeleteVOTE WISELY!