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Monday, February 18, 2008
Former officials urge Arroyo Cabinet to resign
MANILA --About 60 former government officials called for the Cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign, stoking further political turbulence Sunday amid corruption allegations that have battered her presidency.
The ex-officials from previous administrations, including former Arroyo Cabinet members, made the public appeal after attending a mass led by Roman Catholic groups and ex-President Corazon Aquino to show support for a star witness in a new corruption scandal.
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"We call on all those who can no longer endure this wrongful governance, with its structure of evil and unmoderated greed. It's time to cut clean. It's time to go. Tama na. Sobra na (Enough is enough. Now is the time)," they said.
"We call on all government officials - Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, heads of agencies - who know about these anomalous transactions to join the heroic stand of Jun Lozada to come forward and speak out," they added.
More than 5,000 protesters attended the mass at the La Salle Greenhills gym in Mandaluyong City.
In an interview, the former President Aquino said she came to help the truth come out.
She said she will not get tired of rallying and leading the people against graft and corruption in government.
"I want Filipinos to unite. I come here not only to support Jun Lozada but also for all of us who have come here to show that we can be united if we want to," said Aquino who was wearing her trademark yellow dress and a pin with a Philippine flag labeled "Jun Lozada you're not alone."
Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., together with his wife Gina, said, "he and his family are here to help the truth finally emerge."
About 10,000 protesters jammed the main avenue in the city's financial district Friday in an opposition-led rally to demand Arroyo's resignation.
In a statement read by former Philippine Ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario, the group called on current officials "who can no longer endure this wrongful governance" to quit Arroyo's administration. They also urged officials with knowledge of any government wrongdoing to emulate Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr.
Lozada, a government consultant, publicly exposed alleged large-scale bribery in a US$330 million government broadband contract being investigated by the opposition-dominated Senate.
The former officials said they were alarmed by the alleged abuse of presidential powers, including the purported use of security forces "to strangle the truth."
Arroyo spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo rejected the call for massive defections of the president's officials, and appealed for unity.
Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano said a bigger protest against Arroyo would be held on February 25, the anniversary of the army-backed 1986 "people power" revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Political tensions heightened after Lozada emerged two weeks ago, weeping and looking frightened on nationwide TV as he made the allegations.
In a Senate hearing, Lozada accused a former elections commission chief of demanding a huge kickback from the government deal with China's telecommunications giant ZTE Corp., which has since been aborted. He also alleged that Arroyo's husband took part in back room negotiations in the deal.
Both men have denied the allegations, and ZTE denied bribing Philippine officials.
Opposition senators wanted to know if Arroyo committed any wrongdoing in the deal. Her former economic adviser has refused to testify before the Senate about closed-door talks with the president about the controversial project.
Lozada has also alleged that government security men held him briefly as he arrived from a foreign trip, apparently to prevent him from testifying, prompting him to decide to seek Senate protection and testify. Police have denied the allegation.
Arroyo has survived three opposition impeachment bids and four attempted power grabs in her seven turbulent years in power.
Sermon
Framed by a huge board printed with the bold letters "Do what is right, Walk in the light" and "Ako ay Pilipino nagsasabi ng Tototo", Fr. Manoling Francisco, a Jesuit priest who officiated the concelebrated mass that organizers said was dedicated to Lozada.
Francisco started his sermon by asking the crowd if they believed in Lozada's testimony at the Senate. The crowd responded with a resounding yes.
He said Lozada is "a credible witness in the ongoing Senate investigation on the NBN project because he has witnessed what it means to be truly human."
Lozada thanked those who attended the Mass for supporting him. "When I did this, I would just like to save my soul," he said. "I didn't know I'll save my country's soul."(AP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (February 18, 2008 issue)
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