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FVR tells GMA: Resign
By ANJO PEREZ and GENALYN KABILING / The Manila Bulletin
Former President Fidel V. Ramos on Wednesday called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign after she filed her certificate of candidacy for a congressional seat in Pampanga, calling her candidacy “totally unfair”.
“Can you imagine the unfairness of it all when you as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Chief Executive with the power of appointment and removal, Head of State, Head of Government, Director of the National Budget—including the pork FVR tells GMA: Resign barrel, will run against an ordinary person?” he asked.
“This is not anymore equal protection under the law. It is not equal opportunity.”
Ramos made the call Wednesday morning just before boarding a flight to Australia where he will participate in a high-level conference on the formation of an Asia-Pacific Community.
According to Ramos, only senators are allowed by the 1987 Constitution to run for another elective post without the need to resign.
He explained that the work of the President is overwhelming as it is, and that running for a congressional seat will take away valuable time which must be spent in running the country.
“The Presidency is a full-time job. As President, you must work 25 hours a day and eight days a week,” Ramos said.
“As President, you are juggling at least ten national problems all at the same time. One must be prepared to handle external shocks like global recession or climate change. How can one handle all of these while running for another position?”
“My understanding of that particular aspect of governance is that as President, you must resign your position. The only exemptions in the 1987 Constitution are applied to the senators who can run for any kind of office.”
Although the former President admitted that the Fair Elections Law of 2002 does not prevent the President from running for another position, he called President Arroyo’s move totally unfair.
Ramos added that President Arroyo’s decision to run for a lower position diminishes the stature of the presidency.
“The President must be seen by the world as acting for the national interest of our Republic, for the wellbeing of our Filipino people, and the core values that have been developed by our forebears and transferred to us, the younger generation, which includes unselfishness in the public service,” he said.
At the same time, Ramos reminded the President that members of the House of Representatives only have immunity from traffic violations.
“I don’t think there is immunity by anybody from plunder or heinous crimes as defined in the revised penal code. Everyone is answerable.”
Earlier, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Arroyo is still bent on pursuing Charter change and has enough clout in Congress to carry out such advocacy apparently even after she has finished her term.
Ermita disclosed the President’s preference for Charter amendments a day after the President filed her certificate of candidacy for congress.
“For me, yes. Even in her previous SONA, she has said she is gunning for it. For that matter, even our candidate says at the appropriate time he is for charter change,” Ermita told reporters after a labor forum in Pasay City, when asked whether the President will continue her advocacy of Charter amendments after her presidency.
“If you are asking me, yes, I think really there is a lot of thing that we can do in our Constitution,” he said, adding that the 1987 Constitution has certain “prohibitive provisions” that should be amended.
Ermita also asserted the President has “a lot of clout” to pursue her advocacies, including crucial reforms in the political system, despite strong opposition from some groups.
“Considering we have many allies in Congress, Lakas-Kampi-CMD, you can be sure that if she should continue and she is elected, definitely she will have a clout among the congressmen,” he added.
But when pressed further if the President would not drop her Charter change stance, Ermita backpedaled and claimed he was unaware about the President’s plans in Congress.
“I don’t know the disposition of the President when it comes to Charter change. You are asking me a very speculative question. I’m not privy to the advocacy of the president if she becomes a congressman,” he added.
Ermita declined to comment on the call of former President Fidel Ramos that President Arroyo resign from the presidency to even the playing field. He said the people of Pampanga should be allowed to decide and vote their leader.
“In the end, the electorate is the final judge of who should be where during elections and what positions they are,” he added.
Two Catholic bishops, meanwhile, also justified President Arroyo’s decision to seek a Congress seat and said the people should be allowed to decide.
Bishop Rodolfo Beltran of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe, in a statement, dismissed as conjectures insinuations that by running for Congress, the President was laying the foundation for her eventual ascent as Prime Minister following the country’s shift to a parliamentary form of government.
“At the moment, all that is conjectural, and in the ultimate analysis, it is the sovereign people who, by exercising the power of the ballot, must decide whether or not to allow her to assume office,” the prelate stressed.
He also said that it would depend on the majority of the congressmen to determine who would be their Speaker “by the processes that are legal and fair.”
Since there is no legal prohibition to the President’s decision to run for a lower elective office, Beltran said the issue has been reduced to “whether or not there are moral grounds to object.”
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/232240/fvr-tells-gma-resign
Former President Fidel V. Ramos on Wednesday called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign after she filed her certificate of candidacy for a congressional seat in Pampanga, calling her candidacy “totally unfair”.
“Can you imagine the unfairness of it all when you as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Chief Executive with the power of appointment and removal, Head of State, Head of Government, Director of the National Budget—including the pork FVR tells GMA: Resign barrel, will run against an ordinary person?” he asked.
“This is not anymore equal protection under the law. It is not equal opportunity.”
Ramos made the call Wednesday morning just before boarding a flight to Australia where he will participate in a high-level conference on the formation of an Asia-Pacific Community.
According to Ramos, only senators are allowed by the 1987 Constitution to run for another elective post without the need to resign.
He explained that the work of the President is overwhelming as it is, and that running for a congressional seat will take away valuable time which must be spent in running the country.
“The Presidency is a full-time job. As President, you must work 25 hours a day and eight days a week,” Ramos said.
“As President, you are juggling at least ten national problems all at the same time. One must be prepared to handle external shocks like global recession or climate change. How can one handle all of these while running for another position?”
“My understanding of that particular aspect of governance is that as President, you must resign your position. The only exemptions in the 1987 Constitution are applied to the senators who can run for any kind of office.”
Although the former President admitted that the Fair Elections Law of 2002 does not prevent the President from running for another position, he called President Arroyo’s move totally unfair.
Ramos added that President Arroyo’s decision to run for a lower position diminishes the stature of the presidency.
“The President must be seen by the world as acting for the national interest of our Republic, for the wellbeing of our Filipino people, and the core values that have been developed by our forebears and transferred to us, the younger generation, which includes unselfishness in the public service,” he said.
At the same time, Ramos reminded the President that members of the House of Representatives only have immunity from traffic violations.
“I don’t think there is immunity by anybody from plunder or heinous crimes as defined in the revised penal code. Everyone is answerable.”
Earlier, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Arroyo is still bent on pursuing Charter change and has enough clout in Congress to carry out such advocacy apparently even after she has finished her term.
Ermita disclosed the President’s preference for Charter amendments a day after the President filed her certificate of candidacy for congress.
“For me, yes. Even in her previous SONA, she has said she is gunning for it. For that matter, even our candidate says at the appropriate time he is for charter change,” Ermita told reporters after a labor forum in Pasay City, when asked whether the President will continue her advocacy of Charter amendments after her presidency.
“If you are asking me, yes, I think really there is a lot of thing that we can do in our Constitution,” he said, adding that the 1987 Constitution has certain “prohibitive provisions” that should be amended.
Ermita also asserted the President has “a lot of clout” to pursue her advocacies, including crucial reforms in the political system, despite strong opposition from some groups.
“Considering we have many allies in Congress, Lakas-Kampi-CMD, you can be sure that if she should continue and she is elected, definitely she will have a clout among the congressmen,” he added.
But when pressed further if the President would not drop her Charter change stance, Ermita backpedaled and claimed he was unaware about the President’s plans in Congress.
“I don’t know the disposition of the President when it comes to Charter change. You are asking me a very speculative question. I’m not privy to the advocacy of the president if she becomes a congressman,” he added.
Ermita declined to comment on the call of former President Fidel Ramos that President Arroyo resign from the presidency to even the playing field. He said the people of Pampanga should be allowed to decide and vote their leader.
“In the end, the electorate is the final judge of who should be where during elections and what positions they are,” he added.
Two Catholic bishops, meanwhile, also justified President Arroyo’s decision to seek a Congress seat and said the people should be allowed to decide.
Bishop Rodolfo Beltran of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe, in a statement, dismissed as conjectures insinuations that by running for Congress, the President was laying the foundation for her eventual ascent as Prime Minister following the country’s shift to a parliamentary form of government.
“At the moment, all that is conjectural, and in the ultimate analysis, it is the sovereign people who, by exercising the power of the ballot, must decide whether or not to allow her to assume office,” the prelate stressed.
He also said that it would depend on the majority of the congressmen to determine who would be their Speaker “by the processes that are legal and fair.”
Since there is no legal prohibition to the President’s decision to run for a lower elective office, Beltran said the issue has been reduced to “whether or not there are moral grounds to object.”
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/232240/fvr-tells-gma-resign
Tags: arroyo, fidel, gloria, macapagal, president, ramos, v.
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