MANILA - He is the David against President Arroyo's Goliath.

After rejecting the idea of running for public office in the past, UP professor and columnist Randy David has decided he will run against President Arroyo now that the chief executive is looking to extend her term beyond 2010.

"It's really a cynical move on her part. I don't think she's interested really in just representing the second district of Pampanga. She wants the prime ministership under a different system of government, a parliamentary system, and thus become head of state. That is a door they're trying to open, and I'm determined to close that door," David says in an interview by Ricky Carandang on ANC's The Big Picture.

David believes Arroyo's attempts at getting another term is not just to cling to power but to survive.

"I dont think that she's going to be allowed to retire in peace....It is a survival, it is a necessity on her part and her family's part," he says. 

David says charter change is taking too long, and Mrs. Arroyo cannot really depend on her allies in the House of Representatives to stay on her side.

"The thing with the congressmen who are presently allied with Mrs. Arroyo is that their loyalty is not of a personal nature. It is of a transactional nature. So when they see that the master is unable to exercise enough powers,
these people will waiver in their commitment because it is really not a commitment," he says. 

Martial law again?

David is not sure there will be elections next year, but he says Arroyo could use the current tense political situation, an ongoing insurgency, and an economic crisis to her advantage, much like what the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos did in 1972 when he declared martial rule.

"The situation that we face is very fluid at this point...The possibility of charter change occurring before the 2010 elections is becoming more and more remote, definitely. But they can still do it under an emergency situation," he says. "An emergency situation can arise. If it doesn't arise, it can be fabricated. That's exactly what Marcos did."

The only way to stop this, David says, is to stand up and challenge the administration.

"You've got to stand up and challenge her.

"You cannot sit down and watch. It's probably a foolish thing. But you know, I've always believed, Ricky, that social movements have their own life. You cannot actually plot them, you cannot manufacture them. they are self creating. So I thought it was going to be a lonely crusade. But it's not lonely at all.  It's not lonely, I mean, maski na yung motocyclists lamang who are writing me and saying we're with you," he says. 

Malacañang has welcomed David's intention to run against President Arroyo in Pampanga, saying he could be a worthy opponent.

But Palace officials say Mrs. Arroyo has an edge over her would-be rivals in the province, where she says she remains popular.