GMA legitimacy, not Mike A, is the issue — opposition

It’s not him. It’s her.

The legitimacy of President Arroyo, not her controversial husband, "is the issue," opposition members of the House of Representatives said yesterday.

"It is cheating in the last elections and her legitimacy that the President should confront and explain to the people," House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said. "The alleged decision of her husband to go abroad voluntarily will not diminish these concerns."

Assistant Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano had a one-line reaction to Mrs. Arroyo’s announcement that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo would soon be leaving the country: "Happy trip, na lang."

Another minority member, Rep. Joel Villanueva of the party-list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption, quoted from the Bible; "What God put together, let no man put asunder."

"I would like to suggest to Mrs. Arroyo that she follow her husband abroad," said the son of evangelist and defeated presidential candidate Eddie Villanueva.

South Cotabato Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio said Mrs. Arroyo should instead keep the First Gentleman in the country to answer accusations that he benefited from jueteng payola.

"If (Mr. Arroyo) goes abroad, he will just enjoy himself there," Custodio said. "The last time he was (overseas), he stayed in a $20,000-a-night hotel suite." She was referring to reports that Mr. Arroyo had stayed in a luxurious Las Vegas hotel suite during a US trip last April.

Echoing Custodio’s appeal, Laguna Rep. Benjamin Agarao said if the President’s husband goes abroad, he might be suspected of spending the millions of pesos in jueteng payola that he allegedly received.

Another member of the minority, Misamis Oriental Rep. Teofisto Guingona III, joined calls for the President to resign.

Mrs. Arroyo, Guingona said, "has lost the moral authority to govern. She should leave Malacañang." Guingona is the son of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona.

Other minority members urged Mrs. Arroyo to make a full disclosure of her taped conversations with an election official widely believed to be Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Laguna Rep. Justin Chipeco said the President should reveal the "full details" of several phone calls between her and the man she alternately refers to on the recordings as "Garci" and "Gary."

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said that since Mrs. Arroyo had broken her silence on the "Gloriagate" recordings, she should take the "second step by admitting to the public the other details of her conversations."

Meanwhile, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez denounced what he said were efforts by the Palace to mislead the public on the issue of the recordings, "particularly, the attempt to make us believe that the President was not talking to a Comelec official, but a political leader."

Golez said that, after the President’s nationwide television address, he joined mounting calls for her resignation.

"They must produce Garcillano now," he added. "He has a sordid tale to tell, ranging from such matters as co-opting teachers, election officers, generals, local officials and asking for and receiving millions of pesos."

‘Right Step’

Meanwhile, former President Fidel Ramos arrived from a trip to the United States yesterday morning and said on arrival that Mrs. Arroyo’s controversial public apology was "the right step in the proper direction."

However, Ramos said Mrs. Arroyo’s next moves in the coming days would be crucial: "As a concerned Filipino and someone who has been there, that should be seen as a step in the right direction... There is no merit in jumping to conclusions right away and speculating about this and that. Let’s wait for the next determined, resolute step on the part of the President.

"The next step should be equally resolute, if not more so," than her apology, said Ramos, adding that he could not predict what action Mrs. Arroyo would take. "I don’t know... She has a whole Cabinet that is helping her to strategize the whole scenario and I hope they are doing this.

"The scenario must end, but also begin, with the ultimate result or the ultimate strategic goal for the good of the country. And then you work backwards from there up to today," he added. — With Rainier Allan Ronda