GMA's amibiguity on whether or not to run has not gone unnoticed -- by the grey old lady nonetheless. For heaven's sake, leave her alone! She doesn't know what she's doing. The Manila Times puts kinder words in GMA's mouth:

Apparently stung by a foreign editorial criticizing President Arroyo’s seemingly ambiguous stance on her potential candidacy in 2004, Malacañang on Saturday virtually told the widely read New York Times to mind its own business and not to intervene in the internal affairs of the Philippine government.

The Times editorial pointed out that the country’s progress is being hampered by excessive politicking and the rumors of destabilization, aggravated by the “constitutionally shaky” way by which President Arroyo took office in 2001.

“When she declared in December that she would not run in 2004, it was taken as a positive sign that she would free herself from political considerations and grapple instead with the country’s urgent problems. But since then she has been behaving very much like a candidate,” The Times wrote. “She should come clean about her intentions, and so should her opponents.”

She does, however, know how to throw a hissy fit:

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said it does not look good for a foreign newspaper to interfere with the country’s internal matters, especially on the presidential election in 2004.

“I think they will not also welcome if our newspapers would do the same to them,” Bunye said in a radio interview.

I kinda like how Bunye frankly equates the Times with, say, the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Say, why don't they write about Bush more often?