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MANILA, Philippines -- There may be a reported "clamor" for President Macapagal-Arroyo to run for Congress among her ?cabalen,? (province mates) but the cyberspace constituency is against it.
People opposed to the idea of Ms Arroyo running for a congressional seat in next year?s elections have made their position very clear on websites such as www.digitalmabuhay.com.
?Ikaw ba naman ang ganid sa kapangyarihan (Well, if one were greedy for power...),? commented one online community member, who added that the President would not likely settle for becoming an ?ordinary? citizen after 2010 because she feared prosecution for corruption.
Another member wrote: ?Mukhang ayaw pang bumitiw nitong si Gloria. Sumusobra na talaga siya at ang pamilya nya (Looks like this Gloria doesn?t want to let go. She and her family are really too much).?
On the popular social networking site ?Twitter,? one member said he smelled ?something fishy? in Ms Arroyo?s almost weekly visits to her home province, Pampanga.
The President has been particularly omnipresent in the second congressional district of Pampanga?inspecting and inaugurating infrastructure projects and distributing donations?where she?s reportedly planning to run.
Raul Gonzalez, chief presidential legal counsel, said on Sunday he saw nothing wrong with Ms Arroyo, already the second-longest serving Philippine president in history, running for Congress.
?Supposing the President still wants to serve her constituents in Pampanga, why would you deprive them of that?? he said in a phone interview with the Inquirer.
Gonzalez said a congressional run for an outgoing president was ?nothing out of the ordinary,? citing United States President John Quincy Adams in the 19th century.
But told that nothing of that sort has ever happened in the Philippines, he replied: ?You can always be the precedent.?
?(Running for Congress) is even humbling on her part (because) she?s been president (yet) she?s willing to slide down in order to do public service,? he said.
Just last Friday, Ms Arroyo was in Guagua town to inspect a ?requested road improvement project? in Barangay (Village) San Rafael, a ?requested interior pathway? in San Juan Bautista village, and another ?requested reinforced concrete deck gilder bridge.?
Mayor Ramon Guico, president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, said on Sunday his group did not mind Ms Arroyo?s frequent visits to her home province.
?We understand because it?s her hometown,? he told the Inquirer. ?Besides, when there?s a crisis, she also makes it a point to visit other places.?
Gonzalez said speculation that Ms Arroyo?s supposed congressional run was meant to eventually seat her as prime minister in the event of Charter change and a shift to a parliamentary government was ?moot and academic at this point.?
?Critics always create Frankenstein monsters,? he said. ?Whatever it is, whatever the motivation, it?s still moot at this point because we have not even decided to call for a constitutional convention.?
