Arroyo will not seek prime minister post if shift to parliamentary system pushes through

August 30, 2018

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she will not seek the prime minister's post if a parliamentary system of government pushes through.

"[I am] not just thinking [of it], I am retiring… I don't plan to run for anything in 2019," Arroyo told CNN Philippines' The Source Thursday.

She said her son Mikey Arroyo will run for Congress in 2019.

In an ambush interview in Pampanga, Arroyo said she would give way to new breed of young lawmakers.

“Yes (retirement) because we all have to move on. People do reach retirement age and I was also saying that one of the blessings of being a Speaker now at this time is that I’ve come to work with the younger congressmen and seeing how they work, seeing how good they are. I’m very confident that the new generation will be very good in taking over the reigns of government,” she told reporters after attending the blessing of the Romana Pangan District Hospital in Floridablanca, Pampanga.

Earlier, Arroyo said she would write her diaries as she hoped the 18th Congress would continue the federalism initiative that she will push for in this 17th Congress. DMS