Lawyer: GMA not interested in PM post

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks with former President and incumbent Pampanga 2nd District Representative Gloria Arroyo during the Philippine Development Forum: Sulong Pilipinas 2017 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City on August 9, 2017. (ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

Amid speculations of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filling in a Prime Minister post in the scenario of a federal government, her former lawyer said that she has no vested interest in it.

“Kilala naman natin ang pagkatao ni President Arroyo (We know who President Arroyo is as a person),” her lawyer Raul Lambino said in an interview with ANC, referring to GMA in her past position in the government.

“Hindi ganun ang character niya. Wala siyang vested interest dito (That is not part of her character. She has no vested interest in it,” he added.

Arroyo who was has been a Senator, a Vice President, a President, and currently Pampanga’s representative in Congress is currently the topic of some hearsays when it came to the Prime Minister position, as the Duterte Administration is pushing the shift to federalism.

Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) administrator Lambino said that though there really have been gossips, Arroyo has “no such ambition.”

Arroyo also joined the ruling party of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) last year, in which President Rodrigo Duterte is the party chair. Rumors are floating on what Arroyo’s role will be in a federal set-up, pushed by the ruling party.

Lambino who is also the PDP-Laban Vice President for International Affairs said in the same interview that critics are only bringing up the topic to invite more opposition in changing the constitution.

In a federal government set-up, a Prime Minister will share powers with the President in the Executive branch.

Meanwhile, other hot topics involving the shift to a federal government include a possible no 2019 election scenario as terms of some lawmakers will expire by 2019. This will have the incumbent solons to remain in their posts until a constituent assembly (Con-Ass) convenes on a federal government constitution draft.