GMA on PM bid: That’s black propaganda

As she is firmly against scrapping the midterm elections in May 2019 and extending the term of incumbent officials, all talk regarding her supposed ambition to be prime minister under a federal government is merely “black propaganda,” new Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said yesterday.

“No, definitely I am not supporting term extension,” she told reporters in Pampanga when asked if she was supporting no-el, or no elections. On reports that she was seeking

position of prime minister under a federal system of government, she said, “Look, to begin with, the proposed constitution is presidential federal, isn’t it? So that’s black propaganda.”

She stressed she has never entertained the idea even if she is in her last 11 months as representative of Pampanga’s second district. She was visiting flooded areas in her home province and in nearby Bataan when interviewed by reporters.

Her predecessor, ousted speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, had actively pushed for no-el purportedly to give lawmakers more time to work on federalism.

She said she has not seen the draft constitution written by President Duterte’s consultative committee on Charter change (Cha-cha), although she knew that the system of government it recommended was federal-presidential. Her allies in the new House major- ity are also opposed to no-el.

“We are against it, we support the stand taken by our new Speaker,” Rep. Michael Romero of 1-Pacman said in a radio interview.

Arroyo earlier said the House would cooperate with the Senate on Cha-cha. She said the chamber had already approved a resolution, which it had transmitted to the Senate, calling on the two chambers of Congress to convene as a constituent assembly (con-ass) to work on Cha-cha.

“So, the ball is now in the Senate’s court. It (Cha-cha) requires the cooperation of both houses of Congress,” she said.

Alvarez and other House allies had asserted that they could work on Charter amendments even without the participation of senators.

Arroyo also said she has checked on the status of President Duterte’s priority legislative measures.

“One was the coco levy fund, done. Number two was the Land Use Act, done. And No. 3 was the Disaster Management Department (DMD) and it was still pending in the TWG (technical working group),” she pointed out.

She said she has asked the concerned committees to endorse the DMD bill.

Representatives of coconut farmers have told a Quezon City news forum that the House and the Senate had passed the bill allowing the use of billions of coconut levy funds early this year. The measure is pending before the conference committee.

They said they have been pleading since February with Sen. Cynthia Villar, who chairs the Senate agriculture committee, to convene the conference but that their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

“We are hopeful that this will soon become a law with the President’s pitch for it in his SONA (State of the Nation Address) last Monday,” they said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the President’s party-mates in the House are planning to give Arroyo a key party position.

There are speculations that she might succeed Alvarez as the PDP-Laban secretarygeneral.

Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, head of the party’s Visayas bloc of more than 40 House members, said he agreed with Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, PDP-Laban president, that Arroyo should get a key party post. Arroyo joined PDP-Laban last year. President Duterte is titular head of the ruling party.

“Her position is high so it’s a good strategy that party members with high positions are given corresponding high ranking position in the party,” Pimentel told GMA News TV.

However, he said Arroyo must make sure she can fulfill her duties to the PDP-Laban if she is given a post.

“Does Speaker Arroyo have the time to still involve herself with party matters? If the answer is yes, then we should look for the position for her,” he said.