Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, faced with the prospect of civil unrest unless she steps down at the end of her term, has vowed not to try to extend her time in office.
In her final state of the nation address on Monday, Arroyo defended her record during her turbulent eight-and-a-half years in power and assured lawmakers she would not lift term limits set by the Constitution.
“I have never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term,” Arroyo said. “At the end of this speech I shall step down from this stage ... but not from the presidency. My term does not end until next year.”
She also said she will defend democracy when threatened by violence in her last months in power — a clear warning to anyone plotting to remove her by force.
The 62-year-old US-trained economist has survived four coup attempts and four impeachment bids since 2001.
Her opponents have accused her of maneuvering to extend her six-year term either by amending the country’s 1987 Constitution to lift term limits or by imposing martial law.
A Philippine president is limited to one six-year term, but Arroyo, a former vice president, served part of another term after succeeding Joseph Estrada, who was deposed in a 2001 military-backed revolt on corruption charges.
Riot police on Monday used trucks, barbed wire and shipping containers to block more than 10,000 people who braved the rain to protest outside the House of Representatives, where Arroyo gave her hour-long annual speech. Protest leaders warned Arroyo of public unrest if she clings to power.
“Ms. Arroyo’s political maneuvers ... to perpetuate herself in power will surely face the people’s wrath,” said Representative Rafael Mariano, who boycotted Arroyo’s speech and joined the protesters.
Representative Roilo Golez, Arroyo’s former national security adviser but now an opposition memeber, said the president’s promise not to extend her stay in office “may not be as categorical as some people would want it, but it sounded like goodbye.”
US Ambassador Kristie Kenney also said Arroyo’s address “sounded like a final” speech in Congress.
Representative Satur Ocampo, however, said Arroyo failed to ask her congressional allies to stop efforts to amend the Constitution to extend her term.
“Such uncertainty will continue to fuel protests,” he said.
The rowdy demonstrators set on fire a huge effigy of Arroyo, who was depicted as a decomposing figure in a red dress atop a military tank labeled “Gloria Forever.” A huge streamer read, “Gloria, you’re history” and 11 priests clad in white cassocks held letters that formed the phrase, “Enough of GMA,” Arroyo’s initials.
In her speech, Arroyo said she was the first Southeast Asian leader invited to the White House for a meeting tomorrow with US President Barack Obama. On the agenda will be security issues and terrorism, she said.
US troops have been training Filipino soldiers battling al-Qaeda-linked militants in the southern Philippines.
Arroyo also said her government’s fiscal measures protected the economy from the global financial meltdown, resulting in sustained growth over 33 quarters and getting close to a balanced budget. She also pointed to advances in education, promotion of next year’s automated elections, improvements in infrastructure and initiating fresh peace bids with Muslim and communist rebels.
Meanwhile, New People’s Army guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb, killing two soldiers and wounding five on Mindanao island, the military said yesterday.
The guerrillas planted the device on a highway in a remote village outside Davao city.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS