MANILA -- House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has confirmed she will not run for any position in the next midterm elections and will retire when her term ends as Pampanga representative in 2019.
Arroyo made the announcement on Wednesday in a television interview on CNN Philippines.
"I am retiring. I don't plan to run for anything in 2019. So, yes that's sure," Arroyo said.
Arroyo said nothing can stop her from retiring next year, stressing that she is "looking forward" to it as she plans to write her own memoirs.
"I think there's a time when we should retire and I think there's some benefits to retiring for myself... When you reach your retirement age, you have more wisdom, you become more tolerant, you become more willing to forgive and be forgiven," Arroyo said.
The Speaker expressed confidence that her young colleagues in the lower chamber would do a "good job" in taking on leadership posts in government.
"My being Speaker now is that I've been exposed to so many young congressmen. Looking at how they work and seeing what they do, I'm confident that when they take over the reins of government they will be doing a good job. So it's really time for us to retire," she said.
Arroyo also dispelled allegations that she would become the country's prime minister once the proposed shift to a federal system succeeds.
She noted that the draft Charter proposed by the Consultative Committee (ConCom) provides for a federal-presidential system of government.
"It is not in the draft submitted by the administration, and so therefore I have no plans of becoming prime minister," Arroyo said. (PNA)
