MANILA, July 25: Embattled Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on Monday proposed overhauling her country’s political system as she tried to face down a new impeachment motion and a mass protest calling for her to resign. Fighting for survival over allegations she rigged last year’s election, Ms Arroyo used her State of the Nation address to outline sweeping changes that close allies have suggested could allow her to leave office with dignity.
As around 40,000 protesters took to the streets to demand her ouster, Ms Arroyo was greeted with applause from her supporters in Congress as she suggested a plan to scrap the presidency, draft a new constitution and create a parliament.
“The system clearly needs fundamental change and the sooner the better,” she said. “Our political system has now become a hindrance to our national progress.”
Only indirectly referring to the crisis that has led a dozen cabinet members and top officials to quit, Ms Arroyo appealed for national unity and said she wanted to press ahead with the economic reforms she began last year.
“Now is not the time for divisiveness. While there is no avoiding partisan politics, there can be a determined effort by all sides to limit the collateral damage,” she said.
The US-trained economist has been dogged by scandal for weeks after the release of audiotapes in which a woman sounding like her tells an alleged election official to fix her victory.
Ms Arroyo has apologized for speaking to an election official before the votes had been counted but denied any wrongdoing, and she has repeatedly ignored the calls to step down.
As expected, the opposition filed a motion to impeach Ms Arroyo before Monday’s speech, charging her with what Congressman Ronaldo Zamora said was a battery of allegations including ‘“betrayal of public trust’.
He said the measure had the backing of 39 lawmakers and would reach the needed target of 79, one-third of the House of Representatives, within the two-week window that would automatically send it up to the Senate.
MARCH: A crowd that police estimated at 40,000 marched on the legislature, waving banners such as ‘Resign Gloria’ and burning her in effigy.
Security forces used shipping containers, fire engines and garbage trucks to block the path to the legislature and deployed around 6,000 riot police to handle what was the second large street demonstration against her this month.
According to a poll released on Sunday, 52 per cent of Filipinos said Ms Arroyo should resign — but that call has not been joined by either the overwhelmingly Catholic country’s influential bishops or the military.
But former president and ex-military man Fidel Ramos, who helped topple Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, on Friday said changing the constitution could give Ms Arroyo and the nation a dignified way out of the political morass.
He said he would be “very, very unhappy” if she did not heed the proposal to make way for a prime minister next year, rather then trying to stick out a six-year term that expires in 2010.
“Whether or not she chooses to do so is up to her,” Ramos said. “If she says no, she faces the consequences.”
In another address to the nation last week, Arroyo said she would appoint a “truth commission” to look into the vote-rigging allegations but said she had taken the correct decision by refusing to resign.
“My decision to stay in office is the correct one,” she said. —AFP