Arroyo Says Panel Will Investigate Vote Allegations

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pledged Tuesday to create a commission to investigate allegations that she rigged the election that returned her to power last year, a hand-picked body that critics derided as an attempt to stave off impeachment.

A spokesman said Arroyo would choose the members of the commission after consultation with various groups, including the country’s powerful Roman Catholic bishops.

In a letter to the Conference of Catholic Bishops, Arroyo said the commission also would examine whether “various groups may be manipulating situations for their own agenda, perhaps with the aim of grabbing power.”

Arroyo also repeated her determination to stay in office for her full six-year term, despite the recent resignation of a dozen Cabinet ministers and top aides, as well as protests in Manila that have raised the specter of another presidency being brought down by popular revolt or military coup.

Arroyo argues that the crisis is a power grab by disgruntled losers and ambitious rivals. Writing to the bishops, Arroyo said the country’s shaky democracy would be undermined if opposition groups continually tapped the muscle of the streets as a route to the presidency, as happened with the uprising that toppled President Joseph Estrada and ushered Arroyo, then vice president, into power in 2001.

“If we allow our country’s president to be pressured to resign under these circumstances, when the issues raised might have speculative or controvertible basis, then we expose our already weakened political system -- a system that needs fundamental reform -- to the possibility of never-ending political crises,” she wrote.

The Philippines slid into political crisis over the last month after rivals leaked recordings of a phone conversation in which Arroyo apparently discussed vote totals with a senior election official during the ballot count in May 2004. The president has acknowledged a “lapse in judgment” and apologized. But she says she did not commit a crime.

Opposition lawmakers say they plan to charge Arroyo with up to 10 criminal counts when parliament reconvenes next week. Along with recordings of Arroyo’s call, they are counting on the testimony of former Cabinet members and government insiders.

There has been widespread speculation that Arroyo’s husband, son and brother-in-law have accepted payoffs from operators of jueteng, an illegal numbers game. The family denies any ties to gambling interests, but the accusations have hurt Arroyo’s popularity ratings, and her husband and son recently left for the United States.

The Catholic Bishops Conference warned that a “truth commission” was not a substitute for a full impeachment trial.

“The truth commission will lay the groundwork for an impeachment process,” Msgr. Hernando Coronel told reporters Tuesday, saying an impeachment trial is the only way to determine whether Arroyo has the credibility to continue governing.

Arroyo’s fortunes have been buoyed slightly by smaller-than-expected turnouts for protests in Manila and by the positive response of international markets to the new economic team.

The president’s supporters insist that perceptions of her unpopularity are distorted by media focus on Manila. A poll conducted in the capital last week showed that 84% of respondents said Arroyo should be impeached if she refused to resign.

But the president’s forces say she has firmer support in provincial regions. And despite calls for Arroyo’s resignation from several prominent figures, including former President Corazon Aquino, the various factions have shown no sign of rallying around a single successor.