Heated debates take place during Arroyo's impeachment hearings

Manila: A brief walkout by opposition legislators was among the highlights of the impeachment hearings against President Gloria Arroyo at the House Justice Committee Tuesday.

The calm that characterised debates on Monday was absent as lawmakers opposed to any impeachment took turns debunking the criticisms levelled against Arroyo.

Pro-Arroyo Representative Pablo Garcia of Cebu argued that the president should not be impeached because she had not signed the contracts that have led to calls for her ouster.

"The president did not directly participate in the signing of contracts for the $329 million National Broadband Network deal or the mining agreement in Mt Diwalwal," the 83-year-old Garcia said.

Both contracts involve China's ZTE Corp.

Survey

'No' to amendments

The majority of Philippines residents oppose moves afoot in the legislature to amend the country's constitution, a recent survey found.

Sixty-four per cent of adult respondents to a poll conducted by Social Weather Stations were opposed to amending the Constitution to allow President Gloria Arroyo to continue as chief executive after June 30, 2010.

The survey, which sampled responses from 1,200 individuals, also found that most wish to maintain, many wish to shorten, and very few wish to extend the terms of office for top officials.