PGMA to run for Congress next year
Posted on November 29th, 2009
And so ends months of speculations as the president of the country finally made known to the public her political plan for 2010. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made the official announcement in an interview aired over government radio.
“I will file my candidacy for Congress in order to serve the hardworking people of my home province,” she said.
“While I’m very much looking forward to stepping down at the end of my term, I have been mulling different ways to stay involved. I was looking at going back to teaching and examined working with non-profit organization on issues ranging from the environment to women’s issues. After much contemplation, I realized I am not ready to step down completely from public service.”
The president’s decision, an unprecedented one as far as the nation’s political history is concerned, was said to have been brought about by the clamor from her constituents from Pampanga for her to run.
She is said to file her certificate of candidacy (COC) tomorrow, December 1 – the last day of filing at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in San Fernando, Pampanga. Although she won’t do it personally, a representative will file the COC on her behalf.
On the questions about the legality of her decision, election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal said that there are no provisions in the law that prohibits a president to seek another elective post after his or her term as president, except the presidency itself.
“There is no legal question on that. There are no legal impediments that would disallow the president to run in the 2010 elections,” Macalintal said.
Juan Miguel M. Arroyo, the president’s son and currently the congressman of the second district of Pampanga, will not run and seek reelection to give way to her mother as she vie for the said elective post.
