Philippines President Gloria Arroyo yesterday announced that groups plotting to destabilise her government had been neutralised and expressed optimism for a better year for the country's economy.

"Many of these would-be destabilisers are being caught with their pants down. Their movements have been really very limited right now. Many of them have dropped out of the game," Arroyo told members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines yesterday.

She said the present level of political maturity attained by Filipinos would reject a violent take over of the government - such as in a coup d'etat - while noting that plans to undermine her presidency through violence would fail.

"When it comes to prospects of a violent take over, nobody of great responsibility supports it," she said. Arroyo's announcement follows weeks when the media has been playing up supposed plots by political groups to undermine the stability of the Arroyo government and sabotage the country's struggling economy.

The president refused to name people behind the alleged plots saying "why talk about something that's not going to succeed? The important thing is that these destabilisation plots are not working at all," she added.

Among the rumours was a supposed military plot to seize power. This threat intensified further with the December 31 assassination of Baron Cervantes, a spokesman for a secretive clique within the armed forces. Days before he was murdered, Cervantes revealed a supposed plot by disgruntled former Arroyo supporters and groups in the military to seize power.

Arroyo also declared that her administration will continue to strive to revive the ailing economy, while citing some economic and political gains in her first year in office.

Arroyo said she is charting a new course for the country this year with the help of the gains that her administration has achieved during the past year. The president said she believes the country and economy are gaining ground despite the global crisis.

"I believe we are sailing into calmer waters but much work remains to be done," she said.

She enumerated requisites this year, like rooting out terrorism, further working with the international community, recapturing the reputation of Manila and the Philippines as "a welcoming and safe" place in which to live and do business, and increasing the benefits from the new global relevance and engagement after years of being isolated and adrift.

The president also noted that terrorism is a drain on the country. "I will root it out at its source so we can live in peace and build a safe productive society," she said.

Successive high-profile kidnappings by the extremist group Abu Sayyaf in southern Philippines has dented the country's image abroad and led to some foreign businessman losing confidence in the Arroyo government.

The president said the government would continue to attract investment and pursue initiatives to weed out corruption. She stressed that her cabinet will have to deliver tangible results that benefit the poor within the year.

She said she has also restored confidence in the country by good governance and leadership by example. The economy has posted a 3.7 per cent growth in its gross national product in the first three quarters of the year.