Palace twits militant critics over 'Oplan Rafael'

Malacañang scored its critics Thursday for cooking up "creative speculation" to raise fears that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo still plans to stay in power after the May 10 elections. Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar belied the so-called "Oplan Rafael," an acronym for "Retain Arroyo through Failure of Elections," as claimed by a militant party list. "Alam ninyo, very creative sa paggawa ng pangalan ang ating cause-oriented groups, pero ang creative speculation nila na walang nilatag na ebidensya (You know, these cause-oriented groups are very creative in coming up with names. But they have so far showed their creative speculation that they have failed to back up with evidence)," Olivar said in an interview on dzXL radio. He maintained there is no basis to claim Mrs. Arroyo is planning to stay on after the elections as she is already running for a congressional seat in Pampanga. On Wednesday, militant group Bayan Muna claimed the malfunctioning of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines for the May 10 polls are part of "Oplan Rafael." The Commission on Elections, however, insisted the May 10 polls will push through as scheduled, after tracing the problem to improperly programmed memory cards. Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo cited supposedly ominous signs like Defense chief Norberto Gonzales Jr.'s reported warning about a failure of elections and "unresolved" automation problems. But Olivar pointed out Mrs. Arroyo is already campaigning for a congressional seat in her home province of Pampanga. "Pilit nila isangkot ang pangulo sa problema. Pilit pa rin ang speculation ayaw bumaba si pangulo, tumatakbo na nga siya sa Pampanga (They are trying to link her to all our problems. To do this, they are forcing speculation that she does not want to step down. How can that be when she is running for Pampanga congresswoman)," he said. He urged groups behind the Oplan Rafael and other speculation to instead help out in making sure the elections are credible. "Di na kailangan ang political noise na di makakatulong sa pag-ayos ng problema (We do not need political noise that does not help solve our problems)," he said. — LBG, GMANews.TV