29 Jun 2009
Enrile asks Arroyo to drop House bid
‘Undue advantage as President not right’
By Joey A. Gabieta

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines -- Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to abandon plans of running for a congressional seat as the vast powers she enjoys would give her undue advantage over her opponents.

"If the President is prohibited (from running again for the presidency) to avoid possible use of the vast powers available to her under the laws of the land and in our Constitution, how much more if she will run for a political district? That is why, I am discouraging her from running," Enrile said during a press conference held here Monday.

Enrile was among the senators invited by Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez for the Sangyaw Festival, one of the highlights of the 20th city fiesta.

Under 1987 Constitution, an incumbent President like Arroyo has been barred from seeking reelection to avoid the use of the President's tremendous powers, Enrile pointed out. Other constitutional law experts say the ban on reelection is absolute and refers to everybody who has been elected to the presidency and has served as President.

Enrile said that there could be no doubt that the President, if she were to run for a congressional seat, would use her position to win, leaving her opponents with little chance of winning.

Arroyo, who is to step down from Malacañang in 2010, is reportedly interested in running for a congressional seat in Pampanga, allegedly to give her some immunity against the possible charges she could face upon the expiration of her term. (A lawmaker cannot be arrested while the Congress is in session. The President is immune from suit but loses that immunity after his or her term.)

Others fear that a congressional seat for Arroyo is just stage 1 for a grand plan to have a change in the form of government to parliamentary, in which Arroyo, tapping her allies in Congress, can run for the seat of prime minister or play an influential role as kingmaker.

Meanwhile, Enrile said professor Randy David, a columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, who said he would challenge Ms Arroyo’s congressional bid, would be a worthy congressional candidate.

But he likened David's possible fight for a congressional seat against the President to Don Quixote de la Mancha's "adventures" as a "knight", which were bound to fail.

Enrile described David as qualified, highly literate and also popular among the people of Pampanga.

Former first lady Imelda Marcos, who was in the city on Sunday, said that President Arroyo had the right to run for any position other than the presidency.

Marcos said that President had done good things for the country, especially for her people in Pampanga.

"Just like me when I returned in 1991, I ran for a congressional seat here in Leyte and I won overwhelmingly," Ms Marcos said Sunday evening.

The Marcos widow was once Leyte's first congressional representative from 1992 up to 1995. She made an unsuccessful presidential run in 1998.

Asked if she would personally campaign for Arroyo in Pampanga, Marcos said she would not like to be "presumptuous" considering her now "very limited resources and influence."


Source:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090629-213000/Enrile-asks-Arroyo-to-drop-House-bid