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After being pummeled for
weeks with accusations, embattled President Arroyo has gone on a media
offensive, defending her proposal to have the Constitution amended and
attacking opposition efforts to unseat her.
In the third straight day
of media interviews, Mrs. Arroyo lamented that she has been subjected to
"trial by publicity" over charges that she rigged last year’s
election and that her family took bribes from illegal gambling syndicates.
Mrs. Arroyo argued that the
Constitution must be changed and the country’s form of government must
be shifted to a parliamentary system free of the gridlock that critics say
make the current system ineffective.
"Imagine if president
after president is destroyed by trial by publicity, overthrown, impeached,
(subjected to) people power, because some sector did not like what he
did," she said in a free-ranging radio interview with dzRH yesterday.
Citing the situation in
Myanmar, where activists are fighting for democracy, Mrs. Arroyo mused
that "in Myanmar, if they are working to strengthen democracy, in the
Philippines, we are weakening our democracy so that it becomes
anarchy."
"It is (turning into)
anarchy and everybody gets tainted to survive. Our democracy should not be
like that. We should make this even stronger and not waste it, being the
first and oldest in the whole of Asia," she said.
It was the latest in a
series of media appearances since the lingering political crisis over
opposition allegations of electoral fraud began in early June.
Mrs. Arroyo met with
selected local reporters on Wednesday in what many say was a
"stage-managed media event" that backfired when foreign media
were asked to leave because they had not been invited.
In her State of the Nation
Address last Monday, Mrs. Arroyo signaled the start of "the great
debate on Charter change" and called on Congress to consider
rewriting the 1987 Constitution to change the form of government from the
existing unitary, US-style presidential system to a federal, parliamentary
system.
Such a move would fuse the
legislative and executive branches of government and help stop gridlock
caused by quarrels between the president and the bicameral Congress, Mrs.
Arroyo said.
"In the parliamentary,
there is fusion, (executive and legislative) are one body so there is only
one direction," she told dzRH radio. "As long as we have the
current deteriorating system, the political crisis will never end."
She brushed aside
opposition claims that her Charter change proposal was intended to
distract attention from the political crisis, saying debate on the
Constitution was "more constructive than the political noise
emanating from the media-lynching and trial by publicity" against
her.
‘Give Me A Chance’
"They would continue
to try to bring me down and I hope the people would give me a chance to
show them that everything I do is for them," the President said.
The allegations over
cheating and other anomalies have resulted in a widespread clamor for Mrs.
Arroyo’s removal from office.
But after failing to oust
her with street protests, the opposition filed an impeachment complaint in
the House of Representatives last Monday.
Mrs. Arroyo has refused to
resign and has welcomed the impeachment complaint as a chance to clear her
name.
In her interview, Mrs.
Arroyo also cited the congressional investigations into allegations of her
cheating and links to illegal gambling, saying it had perpetuated
"this system of false witnesses, who can talk with impunity, (with)
no examination of their probative value."
"This is not the fault
of one person. This has deteriorated over the years so that even the
rights of the president are not respected," she said.
Mrs. Arroyo did not refer
directly to the impeachment case against her but denied accusations that
she had personally overseen the delivery of payoffs from illegal gambling
syndicates.
It was alleged that
regional election officials received P2 million in bribes to rig the
polls, in her presence, in a Manila hotel room.
"No one has given any
bribe in my presence, that’s all I can say," she said. "But
enough said because I am an accused and I should heed the advice of my
lawyers not to speak about the charges against me."
Mrs. Arroyo is embroiled in
her worst political crisis since taking power after massive protests
ousted scandal-tainted President Joseph Estrada in 2001.
She has apologized for
speaking to an election official before she was declared the winner of the
May 2004 ballot, but denied manipulating the count.
Some members of her own
Cabinet, business groups, activist organizations, the political opposition
and former President Corazon Aquino, a former ally, have demanded her
resignation.
Tens of thousands joined
street protests, but the crowds have only amounted to a fraction of those
that toppled late dictator Ferdinand Marcos 1986 and Estrada in 2001.
Opposition lawmakers on
Monday filed an impeachment complaint against Arroyo for allegedly
violating the Constitution, betraying public trust, corruption and
bribery. They urged her to resign to avoid a painful Senate trial,
claiming they have plenty of witnesses and piles of documentary evidence
to bring her down.
Mrs. Arroyo earlier asked
her husband and son to leave the country after they were both accused of
receiving illegal gambling payoffs, along with her brother-in-law.
Despite her recent
political upsets, Mrs. Arroyo has still managed to impress on the
international stage — she was named the world’s fourth most powerful
woman by Forbes magazine yesterday. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
topped the list.
Meanwhile, Sen. Manuel
Villar defended Mrs. Arroyo yesterday from criticism on her media
offensive, saying there was nothing wrong with reaching out to the public.
Cebu City Rep. Antonio
Cuenco likewise defended Mrs. Arroyo from opposition accusations that her
Charter change calls were only a diversion. He said Mrs. Arroyo disclosed
as early as last year that she wanted a shift to a parliamentary form of
government. — With AFP, AP, Christina Mendez, Lino dela Cruz
MANILA, July 30, 2005 (STAR)
By Aurea Calica |
