Embattled Philippine President Gloria Arroyo announced yesterday that her controversial husband is going into foreign exile but indicated that she would tough it out against opposition moves to oust her over alleged election cheating.
Arroyo told a business conference she was pushing through with her reform agenda amid a "looming oil crisis" after getting Congress to pass painful revenue measures.
Arroyo is saddled with an impeachment complaint in Congress and rock-bottom public approval ratings after she publicly admitted on Monday to improperly calling an election official during vote-counting in last year's presidential election.
"My husband has volunteered to go abroad," she said without saying where Jose Miguel Arroyo -- a lawyer who stopped practising when his wife came to power to avoid conflicts of interest -- would be relocating or how long he would be staying abroad.
Arroyo said that even her husband's civil works had been the subject of attacks by her political enemies, "who have been trying to distract me from fulfilling my reform agenda as president."
Jose Miguel Arroyo has been a lightning rod for opposition attacks against the president. Media reports have alleged that he has influenced several government transactions and appointments.
Along with the president's brother-in-law Ignacio Arroyo and presidential son Juan Miguel Arroyo, Jose Miguel Arroyo has also been accused of taking payoffs from illegal lottery operators. They all reject the allegations.
Juan Miguel Arroyo took indefinite leave earlier this month from his seat in the House of Representatives amid the payoffs allegations, which are being investigated by the House.
Arroyo said "this has been a subject of considerable pain for me and for the members of my family."
She said her husband "will leave to remove these distractions and doubts from our people," comparing him to a "Caesar's wife" who must not only be incorruptible but also appear to be incorruptible.
The president's husband will "remove himself from any situation that will cast doubt on my presidency," the Filipino leader added.
"I'm grateful to my husband for his sacrifice. My family will miss him terribly," the president added.
Arroyo, a US-educated economist who was a classmate of former US president Bill Clinton at Georgetown University, said strong economic growth despite the political squabbling showed the Philippines was still doing well.
"The fact that we are making this progress despite the noise of Philippine politics is clear evidence that our macroeconomic fundamentals are sound and that our foundations for recovery are solid," she said.
Some businessmen praised Arroyo's action and expressed hope that the country's attention would now turn to economic matters.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of