Anti-Arroyo rally
draws thousands

MANILA — Former President Corazon Aquino has renewed her call to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign to end the ongoing political crisis as she urged citizens to make their voices heard.

In reply, Malacañang said the President is staying put.

Speaking at a mass at the De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila, Aquino deviated from her prepared statement to ask her audience not to rely on others to speak up for them on what is best for the country.

“(W)e need people who will finally open their hearts and minds and share with their fellow Filipinos what they really want for our country,” Aquino told the gathering of DLSU students, teachers and alumni.

“Huwag na nating isipin na bahala na lamang ang mga Cabinet members, sila na lang ang magsalita para sa atin o bahala na si Cory kung sino mga kasama niya,” Aquino said, referring to the eight Cabinet members led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who abandoned Mrs. Arroyo last week.

“Hindi po maaari yun. Hindi po puwedeng sabihin natin na bahala na lang kung sino-sino. Ang kailangan po, sabihin natin na bahala tayo. Ito ang ating bayan, kailangan tayo ang dapat gumawa ng karapat-dapat para mahango tayo sa kahirapan,” she said.

Aquino made her first call to Mrs. Arroyo to make the “supreme sacrifice” of resigning and handing over the government to Vice President Noli de Castro last July 8, saying it was plain that the country could not continue in its present tumultuous state and that good and effective governance has become an impossible undertaking.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the President is not resigning but she welcomes other constitutional means to settle the issue.
“We believe the President has not committed any illegal or anything in violation of Constitution that’s why we respect the decision of the President to stay put in her position,” Bunye said.

He added that Mrs. Arroyo is prepared to answer the allegations against her in an impeachment trial as he dismissed the opposition’s claim that an impeachment complaint is a waste of time because the President’s congressional allies outnumber them. He said the country’s institutions are prepared to handle such issues.

Presidential Management Staff head Rigoberto Tiglao said in an interview on cable TV that Aquino, though considered a “heroine of democracy,” does not have a “monopoly of truth at this moment.”

Tiglao said Aquino and those calling on the President to resign are trying to “move other political forces for the President to resign.”
“She (Arroyo) can (resign) but she never will. We’re talking here not only of this presidency but of the future of the country. Imagine if any president would be forced to resign on the mere calls of some organization or some distinguished personality. What they’re doing here is they are really trashing the Constitution, which specifies very clear processes for putting down a president. Impeachment is a specific venue provided by the Constitution,” he said.

Aquino said she was aware that some quarters have been criticizing her for making such call. Some analysts, according to Reuters, saw in the call Aquino’s own political ambitions at play, to try to clear the way for her son, Rep. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, to become vice president one day.

Aquino shrugged that so far, she has not said anything that would “command universal acceptance.”

“But I believe that so long as I do what I believe is right, so long as I say what I believe is right for our country, then I will accept every flak, every ugly thing they would say about me,” she added.

Aquino said she knows that her husband, the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., and the recently departed Cardinal Jaime Sin are praying hard for her.

She also lauded DLSU president Bro. Armin Luistro and the De La Salle Brothers for risking the call for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation.
“I was thinking he could have just kept quiet. Anyway nobody was expecting him to say something with regard to this very important matter,” Aquino said. “In my case, I have no choice. I have to say something kung hindi sasabihin ng tao: O, bakit walang sinabi si Cory? Parang ang ibig ng karamihan sa ating mga kababayan kailangan meron akong sabihin sa mga important issues of the day.”

Aquino said even one of her granddaughters is asking why she has to make statements on issues and then get criticized for it. “Kung minsan nga naisip ko na rin yun but as I said I have no choice. Mula nung itinaya ni Ninoy ang kanyang buhay para sa atin, ako man itinaya ko na lahat ng aking makakaya para sa ating bayan,” Aquino said.

In his homily, Luistro said the full-page ad they placed in a major daily calling for the President to resign was a “calculated risk.”

“While we realized the gravity of our humble assessment of the recent political crisis in our country and the possible consequence on us and the nation, we still felt it was necessary to speak to all our stakeholders and share with them the perspective of those who have made a commitment to provide a “human and Christian education to the young, most especially the poor,” said Luistro.

He said his congregation’s decision received varied reactions, including commendation and threats, but this will not deter them from speaking out for what they believe is right.

“Today, with so much pain in my heart, I dare proclaim again those very same words. I have studied carefully the CBCP statement and prayed sincerely for enlightenment using the moral compass defined by our pastors...Now I know from our recent experience that these very same words are both a blessing and a curse. It would have been easier for us to remain silent. It would have been safer for us to fence-sit and watch what would emerge as the popular option,” Luistro said.