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Monday, March 17, 2008
S. Cotabato guv denies supporting Arroyo
KORONADAL CITY -- Not all of the governors who signed a manifesto of support to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as calls for her resignation due to alleged irregularities magnified by the botched National Broadband Network (NBN)-ZTE deal increased, did it of their own volition.
South Cotabato Governor Daisy Avance Fuentes clarified Friday that she is not supporting President Arroyo following the recent publication of the governors' league resolution rallying behind her leadership.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
"What I signed was an attendance sheet at the recent meeting of the League of the Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) [in Pili, Camarines Sur]," she told Bombo radio station here.
"Later on, I realized that they are attaching a resolution of support to the President. It was my fault that right then and there I did not vehemently object to have my signature crossed out," Fuentes added.
The governor said she was "ashamed to retract" her signature because of the presence of officials close to Arroyo and one of her sons during the governor's meeting. But Fuentes failed to identify them.
There were 71 governors present during the Pili meeting, Fuentes recalled.
Fuentes spoke on the radio apparently to assure her constituents that she has not changed sides and remains in the opposition party.
"My position is very clear, my loyalty is not on the person but to the people and the nation," said Fuentes, who has been challenging Arroyo to answer allegations of corruption in her administration.
Corruption, the governor noted, brings the country and the people down to the brinks and that it should not be tolerated.
Witnesses at the Senate hearing on the NBN deal scandal have implicated the President and her husband, Jose Miguel, to be involved in the controversy.
Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez of neighboring Sarangani province, however, came to the defense of the President, offering his province to host Malacañang as the seat of power if people in Metro Manila do not want President Arroyo.
"We would like to remind everybody that Manila is not the Philippines. Kami po sa aming lalawigan, handang-handa to host Malacañang. Dito po sa aming lalawigan kung ayaw po ninyo sa Metro Manila kay President Arroyo [We in the provinces are very ready to host Malacanang if you in Metro Manila do not want President Arroyo]," Dominguez was quoted as saying by the Office of the Press Secretary.
In the manifesto of support for Arroyo, the provincial chief executives called for an end to the agitations by her (Arroyo) detractors to unseat the President through unconstitutional means and to stop political bickering for the sake of the country.
LPP president and Misamis Occidental Governor Loreto Leo Ocampos said the manifesto "expressed the governors' unwavering and wholehearted support to the Arroyo administration." (BSS/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (March 17, 2008 issue)
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