7 OUT OF 10 FILIPINOS DISTRUST PRESIDENT ARROYO
MANILA : Nearly seven in 10 Filipinos continue to distrust President Gloria Arroyo despite her efforts at a charm offensive before she steps down this year, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The figure of 68 percent of respondents who said they distrusted Arroyo is the highest since she took over from deposed president Joseph Estrada in 2001, Pulse Asia said in releasing the results of its survey.
Source: AFP
The figure of 68 percent of respondents who said they distrusted Arroyo is the highest since she took over from deposed president Joseph Estrada in 2001, Pulse Asia said in releasing the results of its survey.
- The results came a day after the Supreme Court cleared Arroyo to run for a seat in parliament in the May national elections, in a move many believe is aimed at trying to remain in power.Arroyo is required by the constitution to step down as president this year.
- But critics believe Arroyo intends to become a congresswoman as a step towards having the constitution rewritten to shift the nation's form of government from presidential to parliamentary.
- She would then seek to become the nation's first prime minister, her critics allege.
- A popular revolt backed by the military installed Arroyo as president in January 2001, replacing the graft-tainted Estrada.
- She won a hotly contested second term in 2004, but her nine years in office have been marked by allegations of massive corruption and three failed military coup attempts.
- Arroyo's popularity took a further beating when members of a Muslim clan she had supported in the restive south were accused of masterminding the massacre of 57 people in November to eliminate a rival's political challenge.
- In recent weeks, Arroyo has embarked on a charm offensive, visiting influential media establishments and inviting foreign journalists to dinner at the presidential palace after snubbing them at official functions for three years.
- She has also had advertisements placed in the press promoting her economic achievements and other legacies.
ARROYO INTERESTED IN BECOMING PHILIPPINES HOUSE SPEAKER ?
MANILA, Philippines - There is big possibility that outgoing Philippine President Gloria Arroyo will remain in power even after her term ends in June this year as she will reportedly gun for the speakership of the lower house of Congress, a ranking member of her political party revealed over the weekend.Arroyo, who took power after a civilian uprising ousted President Joseph Estrada in 2001, won her own six-year term in 2004.
Source: GulfNews
- The Philippine Constitution bars a president from seeking re-election prompting Arroyo to stand for election in May as representative in Pampanga.
- "I believe that Lakas [Arroyo's party] will not disintegrate because she will be a [representative] and there is a very big chance that she will be speaker," said Malabon City Representative Federico Sandoval II in a television interview.
- Sandoval, a member of Arroyo's ruling party, said her decision to seek a congressional seat was a "stroke of genius," saying this will allow Lakas to retain its political power even if former defence secretary Gilbert Teodoro loses.
- Teodoro was ranked fourth in the December 2009 survey of the Social Weather Station.
- "Nobody ever thought that this could happen — that we'll have an outgoing president who will remain in control of the ruling coalition because she'll be the Speaker of the House of Representatives," he said.
- Political analysts agree that Lakas will continue to hold the numbers even if either Senator Benigno ‘Noynoy' Aquino III of the Liberal Party (LP) of Senator Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP) win the elections.
- Professor Clarita Carlos, president of the Centre for Asia Pacific Studies and an expert in Philippine political dynamics, said she's seeing a massive defection of Lakas members to the next president's party.
- She said she doubts whether Arroyo as speaker would be able to wield the same power and influence or match that of her successor.
ARROYO TO SEEK EGYPT AND SYRIA HELP
Filipino Muslims' Grievances and the Difficult Path to Peace
Manila: President Gloria Arroyo will visit Egypt and Syria starting May 1, to ask for assistance on the Philippine government's effort to forge a peace settlement with a Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines, a senior official said."Her visit to Egypt and Syria is an acknowledgment of the important roles the two Arab nations play in the peace process between the Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," said Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.
Arroyo considers Egypt and Syria as "two of the most influential members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC)," said Remonde, hinting that Arroyo is asking another OIC-member country, apart from Malaysia, to broker the talks which began in 1997.
Last August, renegade MILF commanders attacked Christian-dominated villages in the southern Philippines when the Supreme Court prevented negotiators of the Philippine government and the MILF to sign an agreement that would allow the expansion of an existing autonomous region for Muslims in the southern Philippines.Arroyo's visit to Egypt would be the first by a Philippines president in 30 years, said Remonde.
On May 3, Arroyo will proceed to Damascus for a two-day state visit, said Remonde, adding, "The Syrian government will shoulder most of her expenses in the state visit."
She will be meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and will sign several agreements that will strengthen bilateral ties between the Philippines and Syria.
She will be meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and will sign several agreements that will strengthen bilateral ties between the Philippines and Syria.
Courtesy: Gulf News
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
