MANILA, Philippines - With Malacañang's plans to stay beyond 2010 now made clear with a resolution in the House of Representatives, people should now band together and register their opposition, a civil society lawyer said Wednesday.
Law professor Harry Roque Jr said the resolution by Batangas Representative Hermilando Mandanas is by far the clearest proof that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her allies want to stay beyond 2010.
"Klarong klaro na ang paninindigan ng mga aktor sa ating larangan ng pulitika. Kinakailangan na ang sambayanan ang manindigan, at ang ating paninindigan at alam kong maraming sumasangayon sa atin, No to Cha-cha, No to Gloria (Recent actions of actors in the political scene have made the Arroyo government's intentions very clear. Now it is time for the people to unite and make their voices heard - No to Cha-Cha, no to Gloria)," Roque said in an interview on dwIZ radio.
He also said the resolution belies all the denials made by Palace spokesmen that Mrs Arroyo is not interested in staying on after her term ends on June 30, 2010.
Roque, one of the complainants in the latest impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, said the Mandanas resolution is meant to complement Congress' plan to kill the impeachment bid.
"Papatayin ang impeachment dahil ayaw matanggal ang presidente sa pwesto ngayon at ang talagang plano ng administrasyon, manatili beyond 2010. Kahit anong pagsisinungaling nila na wala silang intention at walang proposal na i-extend ang termino ni presidente ang katotohananlalabas at lalabas (They will kill the impeachment bid because the president does not want to leave power. Now, all their lies of being disinterested in term extension will go down the drain because the truth has come out)," he said.
House Resolution 550 seeks to postpone the 2010 presidential elections and extend the terms of office for all elective officials.
It is currently pending before the House committee on constitutional amendments.
House constitutional amendments panel chairman La Union Rep. Victor Ortega initially denied the term-extension provision but backtracked when lawyer Neri Colmenares confronted him with a copy of the resolution.
Colmenares added HR 550 has already undergone "initial deliberations" on August 12, 2008, adding that this was based on a report he secured from the committee secretariat.
"It is already in the agenda. That means they can already vote on it, even today or perhaps tomorrow. This proves that all previous assurances that there are no proposals for term extension being considered were misleading," he said.
The Mandanas resolution proposed that the presidential elections scheduled for May 10, 2010 be reset instead to May 9, 2011.(GMANews.TV - http://www.gmanews.tv/story/135732/Lawyer-calls-for-mass-action-vs-poll-postponement-bid)
1 comment:
It seems that we have another Marcos in the Making. Her allies is doing all the possible strategies just to let her stay in power. Its simple. If GMA will stay in power after 2010, these greedy politicians will absolutely benefit from the extension of elections.
jun
http://phil-election.blogspot.com
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