Malacañang urged critics yesterday not to use the death of former President Corazon Aquino for their political agenda. Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez and presidential economic spokesman Gary Olivar were commenting on the warning given by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, president of the United Opposition, that the outpouring of support at the burial of Mrs. Aquino may turn into a “political upheaval” against Mrs. Arroyo if she tries to extend her term.
Olivar said there could be no upheaval because Mrs. Arroyo would step down from office next year.
“The mayor’s warning is gratuitous, redundant and unnecessary since the President has already stated she has no agenda of extending her term beyond 2010,” Olivar said.
Presidential adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio also scored Binay’s warning, saying such a statement was a far cry from the gesture of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who courteously received the President when she visited his mother’s wake at the Manila Cathedral.
“It would do greater justice to the solemnity and dignity of President Cory’s burial to refrain from using it for partisan ends,” Claudio said.
Golez said Binay should get his cue from the outpouring of love and respect for Mrs. Aquino from Filipinos and the rest of the world.
“We saw how everybody paid their last respects to the great leader. The people went there united or were one in paying their respects to a great leader regardless of any political affiliation,” Golez said.
“Let us not use this event for anybody’s personal and political interest.”
He said the people would be “angered” if some groups would try to capitalize on the passing of Mrs. Aquino for some political agenda.
Golez said he was not sure whether Mrs. Arroyo watched the funeral on television.
He said the Palace also welcomes the statement of Kris and Noynoy Aquino that they would continue the fight begun by their mother.
“I think everybody, every Filipino should have that privilege of defending our freedom. We’ve been through the dark ages already and I think it is a shared responsibility among Filipinos to make sure that we protect the democracy that we have gained and to protect the freedom that we have attained.”
He said the Palace is also supporting moves in Congress to declare her a national hero but fell short of saying that Mrs. Arroyo would certify the bill as urgent.
“He will just wait for the proposal to come out in order for us to study that,” he said.
No upheaval
Congressmen-allies of Mrs. Arroyo declared that no upheaval against the President is necessary because she will relinquish her post on June 30, 2010,
Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Simeon Datumanong said he hopes that Binay’s statements were not meant to provoke the people by capitalizing on the outpouring of support for the late president, dubbed as an icon of Philippine democracy.
“We should adopt an attitude of supporting the country and making sure our people live a peaceful, decent and progressive life. I’m very sure that President Arroyo will follow the Constitution and step down as president when her term expires,” he said.
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, chairman of the committee on oversight of the House of Representatives, said Binay’s statements were uncalled for and “should not be given relevance at all.”
“The situation in 1986 and the situation now are entirely different. We were financially disturbed then. The economy was bad in terms of financial ratings with different international credit rating firms such as Fitch, Moody’s and S&P,” he pointed out.
Neophyte Rep. Elpidio Barzaga of Cavite said politics had no place during the funeral of the former president.
“I honestly feel that the statement is uncalled for and totally unnecessary. The outpouring of grief is for the death of President Cory and also in recognition of her role in the restoration of democracy in our country,” he said.
Tarlac Rep. Jeci Lapus, brother of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, also assured the public that no upheaval is necessary.
Other congressmen, meanwhile, said the smooth and peaceful transfer of power is one of the legacies of former President Aquino.
“President Cory’s turnover of power to her elected successor, President Ramos, was one of the greatest moments of her presidency,” Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez told the Serye Café’ news forum in Quezon City.
“She could have considered running for president again, considering that she was swept to the highest office under a different Constitution, but that was against the democratic ideals she fought for, which included a smooth and peaceful transition from one president to another,” he said.
Rep. Satur Ocampo of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna said the late president could have stayed longer in office under her revolutionary government had she chosen to.
“But she regularized our democratic system by restoring democratic institutions and appointing the 1986 Constitutional Commission that wrote the present Constitution,” he said.
In the same forum, Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor said Congress does not have to declare Mrs. Aquino a national hero “because she is already a hero in the hearts and minds of our people.”
He said a congressional declaration that the late president is a hero “might just politicize the acts of heroism that she had done, which transformed our nation and affected the life of every Filipino.”
Golez said politicians should not meddle in determining who is a hero and who is not and just leave the matter to the National Historical Institute.
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