Pia: "So why not Noli?"

Opposition Senator Pia S. Cayetano today said Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's allies should refrain from unfairly using Vice President Noli de Castro as their "punching bag" every time public calls mount for the resignation of the President.

Reacting to taunts by an administration ally that de Castro would be incapable of leading the government if the President steps down for her congressional bid, Cayetano remarked: "Vice President Noli de Castro was elected to his post by the Filipino people. He is the Constitutional successor to the President in the improbable scenario that Mrs. Arroyo suddenly decides to resign out of delicadeza after casting her candidacy for a congressional seat in Pampanga."

"Many times in the past, the Vice President has been the favorite punching bag of Mrs. Arroyo's apologists whenever calls mount for her to step down, including at the height of the Hello Garci controversy, the NBN-ZTE scandal and now, after filing her candidacy to run for a lower position," lamented Cayetano, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice.

"So why not give Noli a chance to prove his worth and run the country, even in the last days of this regime? They've insulted and belittled his position and capabilities too far."

"Unlike Mrs. Arroyo, Vice President de Castro was never involved nor linked to corruption scandals, extrajudicial killings and massacres, the very issues that have hounded this administration in the last nine years."

She added that unlike Arroyo, de Castro has decided not to run for any position in next year's elections, thus making him an ideal "transitional leader" until the reigns of government is handed over to the next President.