Press Release
December 1, 2009

LACSON: ARROYO's CONGRESSIONAL BID STUMPS EVEN WEBSTER

With her filing of a certificate of candidacy for Pampanga congresswoman, President Arroyo has succeeded in stumping even Mr. Webster: there is simply no word to describe her shamelessness.

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said Tuesday even the word "shameless" is too good to describe Mrs. Arroyo's taking advantage of the absence of a constitutional prohibition to run, in order for her to cling to power.

"'Shameless' must be too good a word to describe her. Even Mr. Webster failed to think of an appropriate word for a public official like her," Lacson said.

He noted Mrs. Arroyo, in choosing to run again for public office after nine years in power, had defied the foresight and anticipation of the framers of the 1987 Constitution.

The spirit of the Constitution in limiting a president to a single six-year term is to keep him or her from staying in power, he said.

Yet, Lacson lamented Mrs. Arroyo went ahead with running for another elective post - while refusing to address speculations she will eventually make a bid to become Prime Minister, once her allies in Congress push for a shift to a parliamentary form of government.

"She defied all foresight and anticipation of the framers of our Constitution who never imagined a President would someday think of such a political impropriety. They never thought there would be a political creature like Mrs. Arroyo," he added.

Before that, Lacson said Mrs. Arroyo should already be held accountable for fostering transactional politics, leading to a climate of impunity.

He said that in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Ampatuan clan was allowed to act like gods for so many years - in exchange for Mrs. Arroyo's electoral victory in Maguindanao in 2004, and the 12-0 victory of her senatorial bets there in 2007.

"In more ways than one, she must be held accountable for the carnage in Maguindanao," Lacson said.

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