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Thursday, February 23, 2006
Former president urges peaceful revolt against poverty (5:00 p.m.)
MANILA -- Twenty years after Filipinos peacefully booted out dictator Ferdinand Marcos, democracy in the country remains weak and threatened by poverty and inequity, a key figure in the "people power" protests said Thursday.
But former President Corazon Aquino - amid reports of a foiled coup against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo - warned "Filipino blood need not be shed to make way for meaningful social change."
Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said Thursday that a plot to overthrow the Arroyo government has been uncovered and key leaders of the coup plot identified. Some have been detained, he said.
Speaking at a forum to mark the 20th anniversary of the four-day "people power" revolt that catapulted her to power, Aquino said "erstwhile tactical allies with latent disdain for democracy" stole the gains of the 1986 peaceful revolt.
"As a result, our revolution remained unfinished and much of our democratic institutions remain weak to this day," she added.
"And millions of our people remain poor, unable to participate meaningfully in creating the prosperous nation we all long for."
Aquino called for "people power" - this time against poverty and inequity.
"These adversaries are far more difficult to vanquish than the Marcos dictatorship," she said. "It will demand the courage of our convictions over a sustained period of time."
Aquino met Wednesday with business and religious leaders, most of whom are known to be critics of Arroyo. She refused to divulge details, but a business leader who was present said they tried to come up with a constitutional solution to the political stalemate to avert groups from resorting to unconstitutional means to oust Arroyo. Aquino has called for Arroyo to step down.
"There is a fear that until we resolve our political issues, particularly with respect to the legitimacy of our president, that all of these questions will continue and we cannot move forward really," said former Finance Secretary Ramon del Rosario Jr., an official of the influential Makati Business Club. (AP) |
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