RP's Arroyo seeks unity as impeachment bid dropped

RP's Arroyo seeks unity as impeachment bid dropped

Cecil Morella, Agence France-Presse/Manila

A relieved President Gloria Arroyo urged the Philippine people on Tuesday to rally behind her as the legislature killed off an opposition attempt to impeach her for election fraud, ending a three-month crisis which has paralyzed her government.

After a marathon overnight session, 158 lawmakers in the 236- seat House of Representatives voted to ratify the House justice committee's decision last week to reject three separate impeachment complaints.

However the opposition, which mustered just 51 votes, immediately warned they may challenge the legality of the House vote in the Supreme Court.

"We are very sad. The impeachment move in Congress is dead and buried. Taking the case to the Supreme Court is an option, but pressure should be kept up on Arroyo," opposition legislator Teodoro Casino told AFP.

"But whether or not it goes there, the public must be involved," he said, adding that street protests would continue against the government.

Arroyo hailed the Filipino people's "grand display of maturity that seals our stability and resilience as a nation."

To the opposition she offered "my hand in reconciliation for the national interest."

The defeat of the impeachment moves marked a "glorious day in history," she said.

A crowd of around 5,000 demonstrators led by former president Corazon Aquino and two defeated candidates from last year's disputed presidential election marched on parliament, chanting slogans for Arroyo to step down and denouncing what they called the "railroading of the impeachment move."

Around 1,000 riot police, backed by soldiers, blocked the road to parliament to prevent violence. There have been clashes between protesters and police in recent days as lawmakers debated Arroyo's fate.

Allegations that Arroyo rigged her re-election have dogged her government since June and led around a dozen close allies to resign from her cabinet and demand that she step down.

The crisis began with the leak of an audiotape on which a woman sounding like Arroyo told a man thought to be a senior election official to fix the outcome of the polls.

Arroyo has strongly denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly rebuffed calls to resign. However she has said she made a mistake by calling an electoral official before the result of the voting had been announced.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia, a key Arroyo ally, urged his colleagues to draw a line under the crisis following the vote and called on the people to rally behind the president.

"While our own President Arroyo has many faults," de Venecia said, "the fact remains that she is still our best option in the country."

He said sending the impeachment case to the upper house of parliament, the Senate, for a full trial would have been a "terrible mistake" which would have brought the legislature to a standstill and further divided the country.

The justice committee, which was dominated by Arroyo allies, had rejected the impeachment complaints mainly because of technicalities.

Opposition leaders insisted a full Senate trial was vital so that all the evidence of electoral fraud could be clearly laid out before the people.

The impeachment motions also alleged Arroyo's family was involved in illegal gambling and that human rights have been violated since she has been in office.