Arroyo reaches out to her opponents

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, fresh from being declared winner of May's election, reached out to her opponents yesterday for help in tackling corruption, poverty, insurgencies and a restive military.

"It's time for peace, to forgive and forget, and to lead the nation as a servant of the people.
"This is the time for forgiveness and letting-go-of-the-past," she said after her proclamation at the House of Representatives in suburban Quezon City at 3:45 am yesterday.

Arroyo and Vice-President elect Noli de Castro are preparing for their inauguration in Manila and in Cebu, central Philippines.

Dressed in a formal white suit, Arroyo said: "To my detractors, I appeal for unity. To my supporters, I appeal for an open mind. The national interest demands solidarity. I'm prepared to lead the nation as a servant of a people united behind the Constitution."

"I pray for a brighter future. God bless the Philippines," Arroyo said. On July 1, she will start her own six-year term as president, three years after taking the helm of government, following the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001.

She said that her proclamation before the end of her term on June 30, gave her "a sense of national triumph and personal humility".

After 17 days of counting the certificates of canvass for the presidential and vice presidential candidates, the joint 22-man congressional counting committee said Arroyo won over her rival, actor Fernando Poe Jr by 1.123 million votes, and that de Castro led by 881,722 votes over his rival Senator Loren Legarda.

The two rushed to the House of Representatives after the ruling and the opposition senators and congressmen debated for more than 12 hours, after which they declared that she and de Castro won as the new president and vice president, respectively.

Despite Poe's lack of response to Arroyo's call for unity, Defence Secretary Eduardo Ermita expressed confidence that the opposition will not continue its threat to hold a series of protest rallies.

Ermita said there were no reported recruitments by groups that were earlier identified as possible sources of destabilisation against Arroyo.

About 1,800 policemen will be deployed in Metro Manila when Arroyo takes oath at Manila's central Luneta Park on June 30, said Joel Galtiao, the spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Armed Forces and the PNP will deploy 3,000 police and military men in Cebu City where Arroyo will hold another inauguration ceremony, also on June 30.

Residents of Cebu have organised a street festivity for her arrival. She promised to establish a mini-presidential palace in Cebu. She is also expected to go to Iloilo City and other parts of central Philippines, which gave her and de Castro majority votes.

Minutes before the proclamation, the proceedings in Congress turned sober, in contrast to the heated and partisan debates that characterised the joint session that started at 5pm on Wednesday.

Pre-election surveys and exit polls showed that Arroyo would win with more than one million votes over Poe, but this did not stop him, his followers and other opposition leaders from insisting that the actor won in the polls.

On the opposition continuing to contest Arroyo's proclamation, deputy spokesman Ricardo Saludo said: "This is only a natural response. They would obviously be upset with the results (of the polls)."

Arroyo has a big task ahead, with her country's budget deficit, and the need for more pro-poor projects, all of which could be legislated by Congress.

Arroyo's ruling Lakas party gained a majority of 14-9 in the Senate and 181 to 31 in the House of Representatives, in the recent polls.

Arroyo's six point pro-poor programme includes more loans to small and medium enterprises, a million jobs every year, clean water and electricity to 1,500 villages every year, construction of new school buildings nationwide, and the reduction of the cost of common medicines by 50 per cent.

Arroyo's victory, though seen with caution by authorities, gave brighter prospects for the country's economy.

Share prices closed marginally higher.

The peso moved within the range of P56.000 to P56.120 to a dollar, lower than the P 56.50 exchange rate to a dollar last week.


PROCLAMATION

Unusual process

Rival move:The proclamation of Gloria Arroyo and her running mate de Castro was made very early yesterday because of a reported plan by her rival, Fernando Poe Jr., to proclaim himself, before a so-called "people's congress" which will include his supporters.

Session:The proclamation of Arroyo and de Castro was made after a 12-hour marathon session by the ruling and the opposition senators and congressmen, which was a "very unusual process".

Claim:The minority report by Poe's supporters in Congress claimed that he won by more 380,000 votes over Arroyo.

Report:The report of the opposition added that Poe was robbed of two million votes.

Counting:The presentation of the report by the opposition was meant to counter the report of the 22-man congressional counting committee.

Next move:Poe's next move was to proclaim himself a winner.

Allegation

Lacson role: The President's palace gave away at least P500 million to silence Panfilo Lacson say some retired generals.

Tycoon: The money was allegedly released by the palace through a tycoon identified only as "LT".

Denial: Lacson's camp has refused to give any comment. Arroyo's spokesman denied the accusations and instead urged the opposition to accept her call for end to bickering.

Alliance: The generals accused Lacson of secretly forging a secret alliance with Arroyo as the political opposition is left in a shambles.