SC exec: Arroyo adviser did rounds for transition govt

Does she really intend to perpetuate herself in power? The President’s National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales had been reportedly doing the rounds seeking support from key personalities including Chief Justice Reynato Puno for a transition government that could still be headed by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“Nag-ikot-ikot kasi siya (Gonzales) at sinabi niya ang idea about a transition government (He’s been doing the rounds telling the idea about a transition government). He wanted to inform the Chief Justice about his views," Puno’s spokesman, Jose Midas Marquez, said in an interview with GMANews.TV Friday night. Puno’s “feedback" on setting up a transition government was asked by Gonzales when the two attended the 13th National Convention of the Philippine Association of Court Employees, according to Marquez. The event was held at the Cebu International Convention Center last July 1. Marquez said Puno advised Gonzales to take steps that would be in accordance with the rule of law and the Philippine Constitution. GMANews.TV tried but failed on Friday night to confirm from Gonzales if he indeed met with Puno. Gonzales’ cellular phone kept on ringing but it was unanswered. Marquez could not say if Gonzales told Puno that Mrs. Arroyo would head the transition government. Marquez just said that Gonzales told the chief justice that the new government would have “positions for respective individuals." Arroyo included? But earlier news reports quoted Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias as saying that he also met with Gonzales who allegedly told him that Arroyo and Congress members would be included in the proposed revolutionary government. Tobias reportedly met with Gonzales and Undersecretary Milo Ibrado, deputy director general of the National Security Council, twice at the bishop’s residence in East Fairview, Quezon City. One of the meetings happened last June 22, according to reports. Members of the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya, of which Tobias is a member, were also present during the two meetings. Under Gonzalez's proposed government, a transition council would be formed to draw up a new Charter by October this year, according to reports. In Gonzalez’s proposal, the upcoming May elections would also push through albeit operating under the new constitution. In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer published last June 15, Gonzales said President Arroyo would be needed in a Philippine parliament. “She being a future ex-President, her wisdom and experience will be needed in our parliament," said Gonzales. He also reportedly said that his primary concern was the establishment of a transitional government that would include Arroyo. “The call of the time is for the three major branches of government, supported by key pillars of our society like the Churches, civil society and mass movements, to agree to a transitional government respected by the Armed Forces," Gonzales said. - MARK D. MERUEÑAS and ARCS, GMANews.TV