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Friday, July 08, 2005
Arroyo won't quit, sacks Cabinet
MANILA -- Embattled President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Thursday night she won't quit and asked her entire Cabinet to resign instead to give her maneuvering room to survive her biggest crisis.
Her announcement in a hastily arranged radio address appeared to be a pre-emptive move amid rumors that at least two, and perhaps a dozen, of her Cabinet members were preparing to resign amid allegations that she fixed last year's election.
She announced a three-fold strategy to institute "fundamental changes" that include working with Congress to change the form of government and reaching out to her political opponents and civil society.
"I will not resign my office," Arroyo said, 10 days after she apologized to the nation for improperly calling an election official during the May 2004 presidential poll. Her conversations were wiretapped.
"I am asking my entire Cabinet to tender their resignations in order to give the executive a free hand to reorganize itself," Arroyo said. "This is neither political ploy nor a gimmick. I believe that this process will quickly lay the foundation for deep reforms in our society," she said.
Several Cabinet members said they supported Arroyo's request.
"What she said was very clear, including the reforms we need," Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Mike Defensor, a close Arroyo ally, told government radio. "The situation is really rotten."
Resolution
However, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said in a TV interview that some Cabinet members have already signified that they wanted to resign, even before the President made the speech.
House Minority Leader Francisco Escudero also said Arroyo's announcement was a preemptive move. Opposition Senator Aquilino Pimentel called it a panic move: "Like in chess, she's close to a checkmate. If Arroyo goes down, she made clear it won't be without a fight."
Another opposition senator, Panfilo Lacson, derided Arroyo's move. "She should be the one to resign, not the members of her Cabinet, because she is the cause of political instability and the root of political turmoil," Lacson said in a radio interview.
The President said she was supposed to outline the approaches to solve the nation's problems during her State of the Nation Address on July 25, but she is bringing this up early because "the country is hungry for a resolution."
In an earlier speech during an awards ceremony for exemplary women and members of the police force, the President also said she remains in charge, despite her administration's crisis.
"Yes, I can govern, and I am governing, whereas our opponents can only sit down and raise controversies at the expense of our poor, because they seek to turn down our society," she said.
Caretaker
However, former president Fidel Ramos proposed that Arroyo assume the role of "caretaker" until a new government would be established in 2006.
Speaking at a forum in Makati City, Ramos outlined the steps to establish a parliamentary form of government to replace the current presidential system.
"The President and the others making a sacrifice to save the nation will be in the role of taking care of the country until the time comes," Ramos said.
"It's not just face-saving (for Arroyo), it is a breathing spell. It will be a graceful exit," said Ramos, an Arroyo ally.
In her address over Radyo ng Bayan, Arroyo said her new Cabinet would have a free hand in governance while she focuses on fundamental changes to the Constitution and to shift to a federal system of government.
She said the political system has degenerated to such an extent that there are endless investigations and scandals "in aid of politics and media projection, rather than in aid of legislation or executive action."
National interest
The wiretapping scandal is the subject of a joint House inquiry. Virgilio Garcillano, the former election official the President called up, will be summoned to attend the hearing.
An influential group of Catholic schools, meanwhile, said it is up to the President to decide whether she will resign from her post.
"The issue is something that we will leave to you...that your conscience should address...what is good for the nation," said the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), whose members include the Ateneo de Manila University and the De La Salle University.
In Cebu, a coalition of non-government organizations and political and religious groups will launch the Gloria Step Down Movement Friday.
However, 56 of 79 governors also threw their support behind Arroyo.
The governors grouped under the League of Provinces said they believed she did not cheat in the election.
Will secede
They threatened to secede from the republic should "imperial Manila" force Arroyo's ouster.
Arroyo also said she did not expect the civil society to ask for her resignation and form a "truth commission" regarding some of her political actions.
"Shameless people have peddled the lie that I confessed to cheating," she said, adding that her talk with "an election official" happened after the certificates of canvass (COCs) had been used to proclaim the winning senators.
"It was those same COCs that showed that I won by around a million votes. That is the truth," she said.
Arroyo also dared her critics: "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone. To those who feel that they cannot cast the first stone, I invite you to help in the solution."
She said her apology last June 27 was against the advice of her legal counsel but she did it because she felt it was the right thing to do. (AP/Sunnex) |
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10 Cabinet members quit, ask Arroyo to resign