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Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Cory reiterates call for Arroyo to resign (5:46 p.m.)
MANILA -- Former president Corazon Aquino on Tuesday reiterated her call for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's resignation saying it was the only way out of the current political crisis hounding her administration.
Aquino said Arroyo's resignation is the "least disruptive solution to give way to a credible government that can lead by example." "That is why the most noble way out of the moral crisis would be for the President to resign from her office. This critical time calls for a strong moral leadership, which clearly she is no longer in a position to provide," she said.
It could be recalled that Aquino had joined calls for President Arroyo to resign during the height of the "Hello Garci" controversy in July 2005 when evidence of alleged cheating in 2004 presidential election surfaced.
On the question of who would takeover the post if ever Arroyo resign, Aquino said the Constitutional succession should be followed and Vice President Noli de Castro should take the post.
Earlier, former President Joseph Estrada offered himself to be the "caretaker" president should Arroyo decides to step down.
But Aquino said Estrada could not assume the post as the "caretaker president" because the constitution mandates that the vice president is the one who should take over the position left by the president.
Aquino, likewise, urged members of the business community as well as the public to join them in the series of "Mass for Truth" rallies for Lozada, as she lamented that everyone seemed to be so hard-pressed in expressing their sense of moral outrage at "the wanton abuse of power at the highest levels of government."
On the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 People Power uprising, Aquino led a mass at the Redemptorist Church where she reiterated her support for Lozada and the search for truth and justice amidst the current crisis saying only through participation and change would the real "People Power" emerged. (AH/Sunnex) |
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