Philippine President Gloria Arroyo announced yesterday she would run for a seat in parliament next year, triggering immediate outrage from opponents who said she was making a brazen bid to stay in power.
Citing her desire to continue in public service and the clamor of her supporters, Arroyo said she wanted to represent her home province of Pampanga in Congress after her term as president ends.
“After much contemplation, I realized I am not ready to step down completely from public service,” Arroyo, 62, said on government radio. “I hope to be a champion for the poor and to work to uplift the economy ... I will work for this from a position closer to the people.”
However, opponents said Arroyo, who is mandated by the Constitution to step down as president next year, intended to enter parliament so she could retain immunity against potential corruption charges.
They said it may also give Arroyo a platform to change the Constitution so she could continue ruling the country as prime minister under a Westminster system of government, rather than the current US-style presidential model.
“If this was out of a desire to serve the people, it would be admirable,” said former Philippine leader Joesph Estrada, who is seeking a second term as president in the May elections. “But it is a brazen attempt to stay in power forever. This should be considered as a warning that the scheming by this regime will not end with this president’s term in 2010.”
In the government radio interview, Arroyo sidestepped a question about whether she wanted to change the Constitution and become the first prime minister of the Philippines in a similar move to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“That situation is so hypothetical I won’t even bother to speculate about it,” she said.
Arroyo would be able to change the Constitution only if her Lakas Kampi CMD coalition gained enough seats in both houses of parliament in the May elections.
Arroyo gave a more direct denial of accusations that she wanted to enter parliament to retain immunity against graft charges that opponents have said they plan to file against her for alleged corrupt activities while president.
Meanwhile, Estrada yesterday formalized his bid to regain the country’s top post in next year’s elections.
Estrada, 72, was convicted of large-scale corruption in 2007, six years after he was ousted from the presidency by a military-backed mass uprising. He was pardoned six weeks later.
Wearing his trademark orange jacket and white wristband, the former action movie star filed his certificate of candidacy for president at the Commission on Elections headquarters in Manila, as thousands of supporters cheered outside.
He was accompanied by his running mate, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, and his party’s senatorial candidates.
“My party and I will fight for the downtrodden, the marginalized people,” he told reporters. “The fight is against the ruling elitist class.”
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS