GMA sidesteps queries on ’04 plans

President Arroyo sidestepped questions yesterday about her political plans for 2004 while former President Fidel Ramos said he would not seek a second term, "period, period, period."

Mrs. Arroyo said she was touring the country not to get votes for 2004 but to reach out to Filipinos in far-flung areas.

When asked during a television broadcast yesterday about her election plans for 2004, the President said, "That is attributing motive."

"Is there a president who does not go to the provinces? If I go to the provinces, is that running for re-election already? Should I just stay in my office in Malacañang? If a president does not go to squatters’ areas, what kind of a president is he or she?"

Mrs. Arroyo has said she is "eligible" to run in the 2004 presidential elections because as vice president, she just "took over" after President Joseph Estrada was ousted on Jan. 20.

She pointed out that she has been going to far-flung places populated by less than 10,000 people and that few people have even heard of these places.

"If I want to be elected again, I should go to populous areas where I will surely get to meet with a great number of people," she said.

Before her term ends in June 2004, she wants to build one schoolbuilding each in 1,600 of the country’s 42,000 barangays, the President said.

Mrs. Arroyo said she had not met with former President Fidel Ramos, who has been reported to be interested in running for election in 2004 for a comeback at Malacañang.

"About 2004? No," she said.

Meanwhile, top military and police officials chided Ramos yesterday for "not lifting a finger" to stop the "destabilization plot" against the Arroyo administration.

"The people behind these coup rumors are closely identified with former President (Ramos)," the officials said.

The officials said Ramos is preparing to run in the 2004 presidential elections and that he could have prevented his advisers from spreading coup rumors if he was not interested in seeking the presidency.

The officials linked former national security adviser Jose Almonte and the People’s Consultative Assembly to the prime movers presenting the Arroyo administration in a bad light.

"These people are power-hungry but we are warning them that we will not take this sitting down," the military and police officials said.

The officials said "disgruntled forces" out to destabilize or topple the government should make good their threats or otherwise settle the issue once and for all.

"The moment they come out, the better so as to bail out this country from uncertainties," the military and police officials said. – Marichu Villanueva, Aurora Alambra, Jaime Laude