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Protests mark Arroyo's anniversary

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, left, shares a meal with children from squatter families in Payatas, near Manila, yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo began her second year in office yesterday amid street protests, stressing she was in charge after weathering the challenge of deposed predecessor Joseph Estrada and an economic slowdown.

"I thank the Lord that we survived a year marked by a global downturn and difficult political challenges," Arroyo said as she visited Manila's sprawling slums.

Riot police were out in force on the streets as about 1,000 Estrada supporters gathered outside a military hospital where he is being detained, while some 500 left-wing protesters marched on Malacanang presidential palace across town.

The first group demanded the immediate release of Estrada, 64, who is on trial for plunder, a crime punishable by death. The second group claimed Arroyo was no better than Estrada.

"Only the faces have changed," said protest leader Teodoro Casino. "Every day, the people are finding more reasons to regret giving Arroyo the presidency."

Arroyo said pro-Estrada protests had dwindled in size since the Army put down a supposed plot to install a pro-Estrada junta last May, when about 50,000 Estrada supporters from the Manila slums stormed her official residence.

"We have talked to many of them and I am thankful that over this past year, over these past six months, they have given this government a chance to work for the poor," she told reporters.

Addressing what she described as the "hardcore" of Estrada's support, she warned them to "abandon plans to instigate another `people power' revolt" to unseat her.

"Without the blessing of God, that will not prosper," she said.

A bloodless popular revolt backed by the military broke out a year ago following a corruption scandal that later served as the basis of the charges against Estrada.

Arroyo has pledged to reduce poverty within 10 years by pursuing economic policies that she said would lead to job creation.

Four out of 10 of the 78 million Filipinos make do on less than US$0.75 a day, official figures show.

The economy was estimated to have grown by 3.3 percent last year amid a global downturn.

Arroyo began the day by hearing mass, where she was rebuked by influential Manila archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin.

"The poor are not only recipients of charitable help," Cardinal Sin said in his homily. "They need housing and medicines. They need education and food. They need clothing and jobs."

She has taken care not to antagonize the Church, an institution that, along with the military, forms the backbone of her institutional support.

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