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Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Palace spurns Ramos call for Arroyo to shorten term
MANILA -- Malacañang rejected a call by former President Fidel Ramos for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to cut her six-year term in 2007.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye on Tuesday said Ramos's proposal "is premature and would need the people's nod."
"President Arroyo sincerely appreciates the fact the former President Ramos supports her in the full range of nation building efforts. But the President was elected to serve the country until 2010 and no one can take the mandate from her except the sovereign people through Constitutionally sanctioned means. To talk about cutting the term of President Arroyo at this point would be premature," said Bunye, who is also presidential spokesman.
He said the 1987 Constitution states that Arroyo's term is until 2010 and unless the Constitution is amended and her term is changed, there is no reason for the President to accept the call for her to make the supreme sacrifice.
Bunye added that the process of reviewing the Constitution has already begun "and part of this is the different ways of pushing for amendments, including the possible term of the President."
He said they will, however, leave it to Congress to debate on and the people to ratify in plebiscite. "And we're confident that whatever is finally approved and ratified in this plebiscite will be followed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," Bunye said.
Bunye said aside from Charter change, the public sentiment would also be known in the forthcoming Council of State meeting on January 24 and the Peoples' Initiative launched by local government executives to get support for Charter amendments.
"We simply have to follow the process and the train of these events to know and act upon the genuine sentiments and expectations of the people. President Arroyo is presiding over a growing economy, a strong plan for social equity, and a clear roadmap of political change," he added.
Presidential Adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio said Malacañang looks at the proposals of Ramos as a form of "brotherly advise."
Claudio said it should not be viewed as a warning or ultimatum. He said if Ramos had intentions of pulling out his support for Arroyo, he could have done it a lot earlier.
He believes that any conflict in stands and views on the present situation would be ironed out in the meeting of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) meeting on January 14.
Claudio also expressed confidence that despite Ramos's meeting with several personalities, including those from opposition and anti-administration forces, Ramos would continue to support the President. He said Ramos simply wants to unite the country so that we could finally move forward instead of being left behind by neighboring countries.
Asked if Malacañang is not worried about Ramos's next move following Arroyo's refusal to heed his call for supreme sacrifice, Bunye said what the former president proposed was just a suggestion. He is also confident that Ramos would not support "alternatives that are not sanctioned by the Constitution."
"There are new developments that will happen in the coming days and it has been reported in the media that there will be two important meetings, which include former President Ramos. So I'm sure that these suggestions will be tackled one way or the other," Bunye added.
Bunye said despite talks of the possible scrapping of the elections next year and proposals to end her term, the President remain focused on her job and in carrying out reforms.
"Things are very fluid but the President's main focus right now is to carry out the reforms. The President has a clear roadmap and she is following this roadmap," he said.
At the House of Representatives, meanwhile, Ramos is getting into the nerves of his colleagues in the Lakas-CMD when the ranking leader of the administration party renewed his call for President Arroyo to step down in 2007.
Congressmen who earlier claimed they still trusted Ramos even if he had met with opposition leaders began to question Ramos's "double talk" statement, claiming he is still supporting the President but at the same time is asking her to quit by next year.
Opposition congressmen, on the other hand, has seen a positive side of such development, claiming the brewing "tussle" between Ramos and Lakas congressmen may cause disintegration of the ruling Lakas CMD party.
Most of them criticized Ramos, the party's chairman emeritus, for coming up with "uncalled for" statement, and even claimed he has no right to judge the President and call for her to leave Malacañang next year.
"What right does FVR have to give the President a deadline to step down, as against the 1.3 million who voted for her with the clear understanding that she would perform her Constitutionally-mandated duty to be President until 2010?" said Surigao del Sur Representative Prospero Pichay, one of the staunchest supporters of Arroyo.
Other known supporters of Ramos could not also hide their disappointment with Ramos.
House Majority leader Prospero Nograles said the statement made by Ramos was "unpopular" among members of the ruling party, and probably the former President would not get the support of most of his allies in the House.
Not surprisingly, the closest ally of Ramos, House Speaker Jose de Venecia, has failed to come up with his own statement and it was not known if he is willing to come up with a party stand regarding the matter.
"It appears that FVR proposal to sacrifice by mid next year won't probably find support among administration allies in Congress. We can't agree to a proposal to cut short her term for which she was legally elected," Nograles said.
He said though that he is not losing hope that Ramos would remain loyal to Arroyo despite his admission that his support for the President is waning.
Opposition Representative Ma. Imelda "Imee" Marcos of Ilocos Norte predicted that the rejection shown by administration congressmen on the proposal made by Ramos might soon cause the weakening and eventually the disintegration of the powerful Lakas CMD.
Other congressmen, who questioned the move of Ramos, said the leadership in the House as well as the ruling Lakas-CMD should come up with a clear position on the matter.
Lakas spokesman Heherson Alvarez said some congressmen had expressed disappointment with the call made by Ramos. Alvarez claimed he was asked continuously if the party would come up with a clear stand on the matter.
He said the political party is set to meet on January 14 in Malacañang and congressmen should wait as to what position the party will take on various issues, particularly the proposed changes in the Constitution and the scrapping of the 2007 elections. (JMR/DBP/Sunnex)
(January 11, 2006 issue)
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