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The government on Thursday said it had obtained the support of
priests and local officials, who said they will stop those calling
for the resignation of President Gloria Arroyo even through
“unlawful” means.
Its critics said their bid to make President
Arroyo step down for alleged corruption in her government has earned
the backing of lawyers’ organizations.
Both sides made the statements on the eve of a
so-called interfaith rally that will be led by opposition and
militant groups to demand that the President vacate Malacañang on
her own.
The local officials from Isabela threatened to
impose a food blockade and prevent goods from the province from
reaching Metro Manila if anti-Arroyo groups in the country’s
premier region would insist on stepping on the Constitution to
replace her.
The 40 priests were from the President’s home
province of Pampanga who said they trooped to Malacañang to pray
for her and for the country.
Msgr. Eugenio Mercado Jr. of Lourdes Parish of
Angeles City told reporters that they are not aligned with any
political group. He said Mrs. Arroyo had not invited them to Malacañang.
The Pampanga clergy has no official position on
a call made recently by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) for the government to stamp out corruption and to
scrap Executive Order 464. This order prohibits Cabinet and security
officials from testifying in congressional probes without permission
from the President.
Mercado said they are not calling for Mrs.
Arroyo’s resignation. “It’s not included in our objective. We
came here for prayer.”
He refused to comment on the latest pastoral
letter of the bishops that made the call against graft.
Son’s appeal
Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo,
the President’s son, also attended the prayer meeting in Malacañang
together with Candaba Mayor Angel Pelayo.
The younger Arroyo appealed to the
administration’s critics to leave his father, Jose Miguel
“Mike” Arroyo, alone.
“My father has been having a spate of
high-blood pressures, probably because of anxiety, so I appeal to
them to spare my father. If they have a case against my father, they
should go to the Ombudsman because there, the allegations will be
governed by the rules of evidence,” he said. Mike Arroyo has been
linked to kickbacks from the broadband deal. He has denied the
allegation.
In expressing support for the President, Gamu (Isabela)
Mayor Fernando Gumigad told a press briefing in Quezon City that
“the political crisis is only happening in Metro Manila and the
Philippines is not Metro Manila, there are many more people who are
behind the President.” He was one of the 22 local officials who
attended the briefing as they prepared for their nationwide Masses
for “peace and sobriety.”
The officials said they also will support the
call for “communal action” by the Catholic bishops for legal
closure of the botched national broadband network project. Mrs.
Arroyo scrapped this project over allegations of bribery in
transacting it.
Power succession
In a resolution, the local officials said Mrs.
Arroyo has shown “strong and competent leadership in running the
government” and that “no other leader could rule the country.”
Vice-President Noli de Castro could, according
to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, supposedly the latest
group to join the resignation calls. The same calls were made by the
Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties and the Alternative Law Groups
Inc. These two organizations said the President has also betrayed
public trust.
Feliciano Bautista, the group’s president,
said Mrs. Arroyo flouted laws when she approved the broadband deal
with China’s ZTE Corp. despite irregularities in it. He accused
the government of attempting to “suppress truth” by
“abducting” Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., supposedly a key
witness to brokering for bribes in the $330-million deal.
If the President resigns, Bautista said, her
successor should be de Castro.
Adel Tamano, a lawyer and also spokesman for the
United Opposition, said the President’s resignation is the only
constitutional means to achieve change amid the political turmoil.
“We believe that our world will not collapse
and government operations will not stop if Mrs. Arroyo resigns.
There are lots of people in the government who are qualified to run
the country,” he added.
Teachers at the government-run University of the
Philippines demanded that both the President and Romulo Neri resign
over the corruption allegations. Neri was the director-general of
the National Economic and Development Authority when the contract
was approved by Malacañang. He said he had told her about the
bribery attempts but added that Mrs. Arroyo in turn told him to
approve the deal anyway.
In two resolutions, the teachers also linked the
President to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
“As an academic community, we know that the
truth cannot be found in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” they said,
using the full name of the President.
Makati Business Club
Contrary to reports, the Makati Business Club is
not financing today’s demonstration.
It executive director, Alberto Lim, told The
Manila Times in a phone interview on Wednesday evening that they did
not shell out money in order for the rally to push through. Instead,
he said, they were assigned by organizers to bring and pay for the
sound system that will be used during the mass action.
Lim said the business club is supporting the
rally not to express resentment against the government but to back
“truth and accountability.”
-- Francis Earl A. Cueto, Jefferson Antiporda, Angelo S. Samonte,
Anthony Vargas, Katrina Mennen A. Valdez and Jonathan M. Hicap
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