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Sunday, June 12, 2005
Arroyo refuses to resign
MANILA -- Thousands of protesters demanded Saturday that President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo step down, during the biggest anti-government rally since allegations surfaced that she rigged last year's election and her family received gambling kickbacks.
"I have felt the political heat but I'm still in the kitchen. I'm still in the kitchen because this is where I belong," the President told her guests comprised of diplomats, cabinet members and legislators.
"I will continue to make the tough choices to turn around the economy and no one will deter me from doing this," the President said.
Mrs. Arroyo said groups calling for her resignation have only contributed to further undermining investments and driving away employers and not investing on your infrastructure and social programs.
"That's madness, yet this extreme madness is precisely what the purveyors of instability and intrigue had begun to sow," she stressed.
Arroyo said she was focused "like a laser beam" on reforms "to turn this economy around, and no one will deter me from that mission."
We cannot resolve our differences by tossing out the democratic process, just because we are not getting our way," she said.
But in a rare show of solidarity, a wide spectrum of anti-Arroyo groups, including opposition politicians and rival leftist groups, joined forces in Saturday's rally dubbed a "National Day of Mourning."
The military put an estimated 6,000 troops on alert amid fears of widespread anti-government demonstrations planned to coincide with Independence Day celebrations Sunday.
In Cebu, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Eduardo Gador said all policemen are on call Sunday and asked militant groups to respect other people's rights even as they hold their demonstrations.
Gador said there was not much chance of trouble erupting in Cebu, saying there wasn't much support for the opposition here.
Manila, however, is another story.
Disgust
Police estimated that 6,000 people took part in the protest.
"The rally for me can be seen as a measure of how far or how widespread the disgust is for Arroyo and her isolation," said Representative Teddy Casiño of the left-wing Bayan Muna party.
Claims of payoffs to Arroyo's son and a brother-in-law from illegal gambling operators and an alleged wiretapped conversation between Arroyo and an election official to fix the 2004 vote, come as she battles poverty, rising prices, a fiscal deficit, corruption and the lowest popularity rating since late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Casiño said his party wants Arroyo's ouster, but opposes a coup d'etat, a military junta or a "palace coup."
"This is the early stage of the struggle for the eventual regime change that is expected," he said. However, he said talk of "an imminent downfall is not accurate."
Stay calm
Susan Roces, the widow of former opposition presidential candidate and movie actor Fernando Poe, urged supporters to "stay calm" and "let the truth prevail."
Roces visited Ong Saturday at the San Carlos Seminary after the latter called on her to visit him and supports his cause against election fraud.
The influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has tried to distance itself from the controversy, saying alleged election fraud should be settled through peaceful means.
Last Friday, the dismissed deputy head of the National Bureau of Investigation claimed he was the source of an audio recording that purportedly has Arroyo talking to an election official about fixing last year's election.
Samuel Ong said disgruntled military intelligence agents gave him the "mother of all tapes" containing the alleged wiretaps.
But presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Ong's allegation is "part of a well-orchestrated plot to destabilize the government and eventually replace the President."
Alternative
"These wayward elements may hate the President but we ask them: do they have an alternative leader or program of government to offer the people of this country?" he said.
"In these trying times, we appeal to the Filipino people to remain calm and treat the controversies with prudence and sobriety. We will not allow democracy to be undermined as well as the gains we have already made in the economy," Bunye further said.
Bunye said they are prepared to face all the challenges being raised against the national leadership, and to uphold the truth and the law without hesitation.
"But we will not stoop down to the level of employing dirty tricks, as employed by the opposition, in asserting the legitimacy of this administration. Let the opposition present their platform and their leader and let the public see this in full light, " Bunye said. (JPM/JMR of SunnexLuzon/Sun.Star Cebu/AP)
(June 12, 2005 issue)
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