Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's presidency was in tatters yesterday, her base of support eroding by the hour, as former backers abandoned the Philippine leader and added to calls for her resignation over an election scandal.
While thousands of people protested against her in Manila's financial district, Arroyo defiantly vowed not to quit in a radio address, criticized those urging her to resign -- including former president Corazon Aquino, a close ally -- and said she was forging ahead by naming a new Cabinet.
"The Philippines has fallen into a dangerous pattern, where the answer to every crisis is to subvert due process rather than work within the system," Arroyo said. "This must stop. I was duly elected to uphold the Constitution and ensure that the institutions of the nation were strengthened, not weakened."
Despite her effort to present a business-as-usual approach, Arroyo appeared to be barely holding on, with prospects rapidly fading for anything other than a peaceful handover of power to Vice President Noli de Castro, who leftist groups said must show that he's not tainted, too.
A third of her Cabinet quit yesterday, telling a news conference that Arroyo has been crippled by allegations that she rigged last year's presidential race and has lost the ability to lead.
The Liberal Party, a key part of the ruling coalition backing Arroyo, also called for her resignation and said it would support an impeachment process if she won't yield power.
jump on the bandwagon
Two major business groups, the Makati Business Club and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, also jumped on the bandwagon, as did a coalition of nongovernment groups that backed her ascension to the presidency during the 2001 "people power" revolt that ousted predecessor Joseph Estrada.
Even Aquino, one of Arroyo's closest supporters and the beneficiary of the first "people power" uprising that forced out dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, said it was time to go because the country can't afford another uprising.
"I say that their actions cause deep and grievous harm to the nation because they undermine our democratic principles and the very foundation of our constitution," Arroyo said. "Once again, we're ... perpetrating a system that is broken and will remain broken until fundamental reforms are put in place."
Arroyo repeated her offer to undergo an impeachment process, telling her opponents they should follow proper procedure and take their case to Congress, where her administration holds majorities in both houses.
"In the meantime, I will continue to focus on the people's business, which is getting our economy moving and creating a better quality of life for our people," Arroyo said.
The remaining two-thirds of Arroyo's Cabinet held a news conference supporting her.
navigating a crisis
Still, even those allies were essentially shadows, handing in the courtesy resignations she sought Thursday night to give her a free hand in trying to navigate her way out of her biggest crisis.
For the time being, the influential Roman Catholic Church and the powerful military -- also players in the 2001 revolt -- were on the sidelines, but bishops were to meet through the weekend, and the military hardly gave a ringing endorsement, only saying it would resist any moves outside the rule of law.
"Commanders should act swiftly against any behavior that challenges or breaks away from the chain of command," military chief of staff General Efren Abu said in a statement. "This is not the time for weakness."
The capital's police force went on full alert and additional contingents were securing the presidential palace to prevent rowdy demonstrations that could disrupt government services, Metropolitan Manila police chief Vidal Querol said.
The leftist group Bayan urged stepped-up street protests, which so far have been a fraction of the size of the two "people power" revolts.
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
In front of a secluded temple in southwestern China, Duan Ruru skillfully executes a series of chops and strikes, practicing kung fu techniques she has spent a decade mastering. Chinese martial arts have long been considered a male-dominated sphere, but a cohort of Generation Z women like Duan is challenging that assumption and generating publicity for their particular school of kung fu. “Since I was little, I’ve had a love for martial arts... I thought that girls learning martial arts was super swaggy,” Duan, 23, said. The ancient Emei school where she trains in the mountains of China’s Sichuan Province
DISASTROUS VISIT: The talks in Saudi Arabia come after an altercation at the White House that led to the Ukrainian president leaving without signing a minerals deal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was due to arrive in Saudi Arabia yesterday, a day ahead of crucial talks between Ukrainian and US officials on ending the war with Russia. Highly anticipated negotiations today on resolving the three-year conflict would see US and Ukrainian officials meet for the first time since Zelenskiy’s disastrous White House visit last month. Zelenskiy yesterday said that he would meet Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the nation’s de facto leader, after which his team “will stay for a meeting on Tuesday with the American team.” At the talks in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, US
RSS