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Thursday, August 17, 2006
Opposition says dismissal of Arroyo's impeach case will prolong crisis (3:00 p.m.)
MANILA -- The dismissal of a new impeachment bid against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will prolong the Philippines' year-old political impasse and leave open the possibility of another "people power" revolt, opposition lawmakers warned Thursday.
The House of Representatives' committee on justice, dominated by Arroyo's allies, voted 56-24 late Wednesday to dismiss an impeachment complaint against Arroyo, dealing a major blow to opposition efforts to oust her on allegations of vote-rigging, corruption, human rights abuses and other charges.
The action had been widely expected. The full 232-member House will vote next week on whether to endorse the committee's action.
Arroyo survived an impeachment bid last September, when her allies similarly dismissed the allegations on a technicality.
Protests and coup rumors, however, persisted and she declared a weeklong state of emergency in February after announcing that a coup plot had been quashed.
Opposition spokesman Representative Francis Escudero said the country will continue to face debilitating protests and unrest until Arroyo answers the allegations.
"We were haunted by the ghost of these issues wherever we went for a year," Escudero told radio DZBB. "It's likely that this will continue to haunt us."
Asked about the possibility of another "people power" revolt, Escudero said: "The people will make the decision and nobody can stop them when they decide to do that."
Nonviolent revolts have ousted two Philippine presidents since 1986.
Escudero made a desperate appeal for the justice committee's decision to be overturned by the full House, where the ruling party is overwhelmingly dominant.
Arroyo urged the country to leave the impeachment issue behind and focus on a surfeit of other problems.
"To be fixated in the events of the past will guarantee us a future of disruption, of interrupted growth and overlooked opportunities," spokesman Ignacio Bunye quoted her as saying.
Last year, the House voted 158-51 to uphold a committee decision to dismiss the first case against Arroyo, who has had a rocky time since taking over when predecessor Joseph Estrada was ousted by the second "people power" revolt in January 2001.
Arroyo won her own six-year term in 2004, an election that the opposition claims she stole.
Questions on her legitimacy have deeply split the nation, with the Senate, an opposition bastion, stalling key bills, including a proposed anti-terrorism legislation and this year's budget, because of its spat with Arroyo.(AP) |
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