totoo ba eto?

*GMA's plan to stay beyond 2010 bared
The Daily Tribune
By Ninez Cacho-Olivares Editor-in-chief*

Two meetings were held between President Arroyo and her allies among
local
government units (LGUs) last Friday and Sunday to fine-tune the move
for a
People's Initiative (PI), intended to ensure her stay in Malacañang
beyond
2010.

Both meetings were held in the home of an Aboitiz known as a close
confidante of Mrs. Arroyo who lives in Makati City.

This was disclosed to the Tribune yesterday by a highly reliable
Palace
source who is privy to the plans of Mrs. Arroyo to extend her stay in
power
and position.

For some reason, the plan for her extended stay through the PI is
being kept
from her allies in the House of Representatives at this time.

"They (congressmen) are not needed at this time," the source said,
because
"it will be the local executives' move to get the People's Initiative
going.
Besides, it is still a 'hush-hush' affair. "

He added: "Forget about the memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the
MILF
(Moro Islamic Liberation Front). That's a red herring thrown by
Malacañang.
That is being used as a cover to get the Charter change going," he
said,
adding that the "plan is all laid out for the People's Initiative to
get
things going."

The source also said that Mrs. Arroyo offered as "sweetener" to the
LGU
executives the lifting of term extensions which "delighted" the LGU
allies
present during the meetings.

The President also promised to fund, in the tens of millions, the PI,
to
ensure that this would get the required percentage of voters.

Reminded that the PI was twice proved unsuccessful despite the all-out
funding from both presidents, Fidel Ramos in 1997 and Mrs. Arroyo a
few
years back, the source said: "Not this time, because the PI will seek
only
one simple amendment" which will not even mention term extensions but
one
that will lead to it.

The source also stressed that Mrs. Arroyo told the LGUs that the PI
will
definitely be upheld by the Supreme Court, as she now has control over
the
majority of SC justices.

The source explained that the PI will succeed this time around since
the
amendment to be sought through the PI will only cover one item in the
Constitution, which is a change in a proviso which will require the
Senate
to vote jointly with the House of Representatives as one body on the
issue
of Congress calling for a constituent assembly in amending or revising
the
Constitution.

"It is a simple amendment. This will pass scrutiny of the Supreme
Court and
it is not seeking to change the form of government or even to lift
term
extensions," the source explained further.

"It's a very simple plan to extend her (Mrs. Arroyo's) term. It is not
the
People's Initiative but the Senate and the House voting jointly as one
body
that will be revising the Constitution to fit her needs," he said
while
explaining that once the simple amendment in the PI is approved, the
ball
now is tossed to the Congress.

"Once approved, the Senate vote will be minimal, compared to the House
vote
and whatever her allies in the House majority votes on, will be
carried, as
the Senate vote will only count for 22 to over 150 or more," the
source
pointed out.

"There will be nothing that the Senate can do, once this amendment is
passed. The Senate can no longer argue that constituent assembly
cannot be
created without the Senate's say so.

The MILF agreement on ancestral domain, it was also bared by the
source, is
just being used as a cover for Mrs. Arroyo's plan to stay beyond 2010.
"All
she wants is to stay on after 2010," the source stressed, and she and
her
aides will do everything to ensure that she stays on as the political
power
after 2010, explaining that there is no fool-proof exit plan for the
President in avoiding charges once she loses her immunity.

"All attention is now focused on the MILF's agreement on the ancestral
domain, which is not even an important aspect in the plans of
President
Arroyo to stay in power beyond her term. It is the people's initiative
that
she and her allies in the local governments plan that is their hidden
agenda.

"There is no question about it," the source told the Tribune. "She
can't
afford to be out of power after 2010 without her having any safety
nets
guaranteed," he stressed.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, along with other presidential aides,
also have
been talking about the need to introduce constitutional amendments to
bring
about the establishment of the MILF juridical entity.

It has been noted that Dureza tried to allay fears of the public that
the
constitutional amendment being sought is intended to extend the term
of Mrs.
Arroyo beyond 2010, stating that the amendment will cover only one
topic.

Dureza also said yesterday that the government would have to
eventually
yield to Congress for approval and seek the passage of an enabling law
had
it not been for the Supreme Court's temporary restraining oder (TRO)
issued
yesterday.

He said the output would have been brought to Congress for final
consolidation of all the issues, saying the government "will not
shortcut
legal and constitutional processes".

Dureza also said Congress would have been the venue for public debate
for
the passage of an enabling law that could end in the holding of a
plebiscite
or referendum.

"In the end, people will make their own decision," he said.

On the allegation that the peace agreement is being used as a ploy to
push
Charter change, Dureza said a shift to federal form of government is
speculative at this point, although he said the "trajectory" of the
talks
could be leading toward that direction.

The source also told the Tribune that he wasn't surprised that the
Palace is
now taking this line of getting Congress to come up with an enabling
law.

"Of course it will be Congress that has to do all this—but a Congress
where
the Senate no longer has a voice—in almost anything." he said.

.

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