Proof that GMA is stepping down in 2010
MOST opposition politicians, bishops, opinion makers and coffeeshop analysts would not accept President Gloria Arroyo’s word that she will step down from office when her term ends in 2010.The critics want us to believe that Mrs. Arroyo will not ride into the sunset but has plans to stay on.
We heard different. Malacañang insiders, persons claiming to be her friend, and namedroppers say proofs abound that the President will quit politics and become a plain citizen after her last night at the Palace. Those who claim to know cite the following goings-on:
The President has started to write her memoirs and has asked Presidents Clinton, Bush and Carter for advice.
She has started packing.
The GSIS has been contacted to compute her retirement pay and other pension benefits.
She plans to form an exclusive Saturday Group with Presidents Ramos and Estrada as members.
The first reunion of the Arroyo Cabinet will be held in December 2010.
She plans to play the role of Senior Adviser and has begun to read the memoirs of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew.
She is considering a teaching job at her alma mater.
Her first vacation will be to Disneyland with her grandchildren.
She wants to make fuller use of her Senior Citizen ID card and privileges.
She has begun collecting her speeches and writings for publication.
She has begun to look into the resumes of the Presidential Security Group members who will provide her security during retirement.
She has organized a transition team to work with the next administration and to ensure a civil transfer of power.
On the day President Harry Truman retired, according to biographer Matthew Algeo, HST got up early, packed the trunk of his car, and did something no other former president has done before or since: He hit the road.
“No Secret Service protection. No traveling press. Just Harry and his childhood sweetheart Bess, off to visit old friends, take in a Broadway play, celebrate their wedding anniversary in the Big Apple, and blow a bit of the money he’d just received to write his memoirs . . . hopefully incognito.” Truman didn’t get the privacy he wanted but had a good time anyway.
President Arroyo may surprise us with something new when she retires. She could change her trademark hairdo, become a global spokesman for interfaith dialogue or begin a new career as travel consultant.
Source:
The Manila Times Internet Edition | OPINION > Questions to ask the presidential bets
