Malacañang yesterday slammed the opposition today for trying to exploit the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to advance their campaign to destabilize the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, issued a press statement reminding the opposition that, unlike the Philippines, Thailand is under a parliamentary form of government and the Prime Minister has no fixed term, unlike in a presidential system.

Unlike Thaksin, the President has a mandate from the people to serve until 2010, he said in the press release.

Bunye said the irony of the latest opposition ploy is that while they cite the parliamentary system as the "perfect model to be emulated" in the Philippines in the wake of Thaksin's resignation, "they deny the will of the Filipino people for a change to a parliamentary form of government" by opposing the Charter Change (Cha-Cha) proposal, the press release added.

Accusing opponents of Charter Change of hypocrisy, Bunye said they "support a parliamentary system when it suits their argument," but reject the parliamentary form of government when it doesn't fit into their self-serving agenda, the press release said.

Such "warped logic accurately sums up the opposition: they don't know whether they are coming or going," he said, adding that unfortunately for them they cannot have it both ways, the press release said.

He said it has become predictable for the President's critics to take advantage of any situation to attack the President.

"Critics show their deep ignorance of how our current system of government works when they compare it to the parliamentary system in place in Thailand," Bunye said.

"It is a sad reflection on their civic knowledge that they have no clue how a parliamentary system of government works. No wonder they can't make a positive contribution to the debate on Charter Change," he said in his press release.*

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