To avoid 2010 battle, half-sis asks PGMA to give way

"Give other people a chance." Former Pampanga vice governor Cielo Macapagal-Salgado directed this appeal over the media to her younger half-sister, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is rumored to be planning to run for congresswoman in Pampanga’s second district in next year's election. Salgado said she is being asked by Gov. Ed Panlilio, an Arroyo critic, to run for the same post.
"Nakasiyam na taon na siya di ba? You have reached the highest post na binigay sa iyo ng mamamayan. Binigyan ka na ng pagkakataon, bigyan mo naman ng pagkakataon 'yung iba," Salgado said in an interview with GMA News. (She has served for nine years already, right? You have reached the highest post that the people can possibly give you. You were given your chance, now give others a chance.) Macapagal-Salgado is being encouraged by incumbent Gov. Ed Panlilio to run for congress in 2010. She said she had long been eyeing Pampanga's 2nd district congressional post but had to give way to her younger brother Arturo, who eventually gave way to presidential son and incumbent congressman Juan Miguel “Mikey" Arroyo. Salgado and her brother Arturo are children of former president Diosdado Macapagal by his first wife Purita de la Rosa, who died during World War II. She was the sister of Macapagal's close friend, the movie star Rogelio de la Rosa. Macapagal married Evangeline Macaraeg shortly after the war. They had two children, Gloria and Diosdado Jr. Panlilio said he encouraged Macapagal-Salcedo to run, possibly against her sister, because he has been looking for a candidate who could advocate good governance. Panlilio has been highly critical of Arroyo and was among those who exposed the envelopes of cash given by Palace personnel to local officials in 2007. Macapagal-Salcedo has yet to confirm her political plans but expressed hopes that she would not have to be pitted against her younger sister. “Sana hindi na kami maglaban-laban. Ayokong mangyari 'yon. Kahit anong sabihin mo, mahal ko sila, mahal ko mga kapatid ko (I hope we would not compete against each other. I don’t want that to happen. No matter what others say, I love my siblings)," Macapagal-Salgado said. President Arroyo has visited Pampanga for 47 times so far this year. [See: Arroyo in Pampanga for 47th time this year] Her frequent trips have fueled suspicions that she is thinking about a possible congressional bid after she steps down from the presidency, while her allies in Congress amend the Constitution to shift to a parliamentary form of government. She can then run for prime minister in the new parliament. Mrs. Arroyo, for her part, remained mum on her political plans. But former Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay, a ranking official of the ruling party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, played down the speculations. "Hindi nga natin alam kung tatakbo si presidente o hindi eh (We don’t even know if the President will run or not)," Pichay said, adding that Mrs. Arroyo would surely win in case she runs next year. – Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV