Pgma on cbcp

I'm deeply grateful to the bishops for their statement of guidance and wisdom. I
appreciate their collective voice of moderation and temperance at this time of
national soul searching.

I will read every line and everything between the lines of the bishops' statement in an
effort to bring greater moral enrichment to a nation impoverished both in its material
and spiritual foundations. I shall continue to pray with the Filipino people for true
redemption from corruption and evil.

I've searched deeply for moral discernment. The second letter of St. Paul to the
Corinthians rings true for me. I cannot boast about myself except about my
weaknesses. But I know, in faith, that in my own weakness, his power can be made
perfect in me, to help me become the servant-president for you, in the way he wants
me to be.

We must also focus on getting our economy moving. I will work with the church,
members of civil society and all others to help build a better quality of life for the
people of the Philippines, and to put an end to the political bickering that is causing
such harm to our nation.

Once more, I pledge to do everything within my power to earn your enduring trust
and support.

Once again, beloved bishops, thank you.

PGMA's Message on the earlier statement of Former President Corazon Aquino

for PGMA's voluntary resignation Presidential Residence, Malacaang (08 July
2005)
Mga minamahal kong kababayan.

This is a democracy that's held together by the Constitution and the rule of law. The
Philippines has fallen into a dangerous pattern where the answer to every crisis is to
subvert due process rather than work within the system. This must stop.

I was duly elected to uphold the Constitution and ensure that the institutions of the
nation were strengthened not weakened. With all due respect to Former President
Aquino and others, I say that their actions caused deep and grievous harm to the
nation because they undermine our democratic principles and the very foundation of
our constitution. Once again, we're subverting the rule of law and perpetuating a
system that's broken and will remain broken until fundamental reforms are put in
place.

As former President Aquino is well aware, the president is charged by the nation to
defend our hard won democracy at all costs. To those who've forgotten this, I say,
take your grievances to Congress where I'm very willing to submit to due process as
called for by our constitution. In the meantime, I will continue to focus on the people's
business which is getting our economy moving and creating a better quality of life for
our people.

I will announce a new cabinet within the next couple of days. This team will be made
up of individuals whose commitment to our nation and to democratic principles will be
beyond doubt.

This is the team that will work with me to move away from political bickering to doing
what the people of the Philippines expect their leaders to do and that is get our
economy moving and ensure the delivery of essential services such as health care,
education and security to all parts of the country.

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's radio message on the clamor for her

resignation
Study Room, Malacaang (07 July 2005)

Mga minamahal kong kababayan.

When I was young and my late father Diosdado Macapagal was president of our
country, I thought of him as the "good guy" and his political opponents on the other
side were the bad guys.

Because of my father's influence, I had always thought of myself as on the side of the
good. Thus, it's very painful for me to know that among many of our countrymen
today I've been demonized as the bad guy. This is unfair, but it's a cross that God in
his wisdom has given me to bear. So I will bear it. I've never questioned God's ways
before, and I will not do so now.

When I first entered politics in 1992, little did I know that within a decade, I would
become president of our country. And little did I expect that within another five years,
there would be calls from civil society for my resignation from office or for the
formation of a 'truth commission' regarding some of my political actuations.

When I spoke before the nation some two weeks ago, I did so against the advice of
my legal counsel. But I thought that speaking before you, the Filipino people, was the
right thing to do. Shameless people have peddled the lie that I confessed to cheating.
What I disclosed was that I talked to an election official, but that this had taken place
after the certificates of canvass had already been used to proclaim the winning
senators, and it was those same certificates of canvass that showed that I won by
around a million votes. That is the truth.

Indeed, it's right for our country to confront the truth. But if we do so, let's confront the
biggest most painful political truth. The big truth that we are aware of deep in our
hearts but that we collectively sweep under the rug. The big truth whose debilitating
effects on our country, year after year, decade after decade, have developed into
feelings of disgust, hopelessness and even despair among large segments of our
society.

The truth that I discovered from my beginnings as a neophyte politician in 1992,

rising to become a veteran politician through the years is this: over the years, our
political system has degenerated to such an extent that it's very difficult to live within
the system with hands totally untainted. That is the truth. In addition, our system has
degenerated to such an extent that more often than not it's political agenda first and
national interest last. For example, we have endless investigations and scandals in
aid of politics and media projection, rather than in aid of legislation or executive
action. That is the truth. Because of this system of politics, our country has been left
behind by other countries in the region, and our best and brightest, the cream of our
youth are bolting with their feet to leave the country. That is the truth.

I do not blame any individual or political bloc for this sad state of affairs. It's simply
the truth that the political system that I am part of has degenerated to the point that it
needs fundamental change. We are collectively to blame, so we must collectively be
the solution. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. To those who feel that they
cannot cast the first stone, I invite you to help in the solution.

My proposed approach to reform our system of politics and governance is something

that I had wanted to bring forth during the upcoming state of the nation address.
However, because our country is hungry for a resolution to the political uncertainties
that have plagued us these past few weeks, I will bring it up now.

First of all, I am not resigning my office. To do so under circumstances that connote

an EDSA tres would condemn any successor to the possibility of an EDSA 4, then an
EDSA 5, and so on. Unless our political system were first reformed to make it more
responsive to the people's will such that changes in leadership come about in an
orderly and stable manner.

The world embraced EDSA 1 in 1986. The world tolerated EDSA 2 in 2001. The
world will not forgive an EDSA 3 in 2005 but would instead condemn the Philippines
as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable, and the Filipinos as
among the finest people in the world but who always shoot themselves in the foot.
Under those circumstances, who would invest money in the Philippines? How would
we weather the difficulties arising from the price of crude oil being at its highest in
history?

What I intend to do is to work with legislators and civil groups who believe that
changes in the fundamental law of the land are necessary in order to confront such
basic issues as federalism, the character of our legislative process, reducing red tape
in government processes, running for public office under a true party system and with
less need to raise campaign funds, modernizing the economic provisions of our
constitution, and so forth.

At the same time, I will restructure and strengthen the Cabinet, giving it a free hand
to meanwhile reform and manage our day to day governance with as little political
interference as possible, even from me.

This is how we will proceed.

First, I'm asking my entire Cabinet to tender their resignation in order to give the
executive a free hand to reorganize itself. I'll ask our sectors to give me names of
candidates that we can invite to replace those who will not return to the cabinet or
even to help out at other levels of the executive.

Second, the Cabinet will be given a free hand on governance while I focus on the
fundamental changes that we need to put in place.

Third, I will begin to reach out to the political and civil sectors that have an interest in
the various advocacies that are relevant to our constitution. Federalism, for example,
is an advocacy that I had espoused long ago.

This is neither political ploy nor gimmick. I believe that this process will quickly lay the
foundation for deep reforms in our society including reforms in our political way of
life. This would be a legacy that our generation of politicians and citizens could
collectively be proud of.

I now have grandchildren to play with and help bring up. Like all of you, I want our
children to grow up in a better Philippines. I have prayed on this, and I hope that I
have discerned God's will properly.

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Statement on the Issue of the Tape

Recordings
Study Room, Malacaang (27 June 2005)

Mga Minamahal kong Kababayan,

For the last several weeks, the issue of the tape recordings has spun out of control.
Tonight, I want to set the record straight.
You deserve an explanation from me, because you are the people I was elected to
serve.
As you recall, the election canvassing process was unnecessarily slow even after the
election results were already in and the votes had been counted. I was anxious to
protect my votes and during that time had conversations with many people, including
a Comelec official. My intent was not to influence the outcome of the election, and it
did not. As I mentioned, the election had already been decided and the votes
counted. And as you remember, the outcome had been predicted by every major
public opinion poll, and adjudged free, fair and decisive by international election
observers, and our own Namfrel.
That said, let me tell you how I feel personally. I recognize that making any such call
was a lapse in judgment. I am sorry. I also regret taking so long to speak before you
on this matter. I take full responsibility for my actions, and to you and to all those
good citizens who may have had their faith shaken by these events. I want to assure
you that I have redoubled my efforts to serve the nation and earn your trust.
Nagagambala ako. Maliwanag na may kakulangan sa wastong pagpapasya ang
nangyaring pagtawag sa telepono. Pinagsisisihan ko ito ng lubos. Pinananagutan ko
nang lubusan ang aking mga ginawa at humihingi ako ng tawad sa inyo, sa lahat ng
mga butihing mamamayan na nabawasan ng tiwala dahil sa mga pangyayaring ito.
Ibig kong tiyakin sa inyo na lalo pa akong magsisikap upang maglingkod sa bayan at
matamo ang inyong tiwala.
I took office with a mandate to carry out a plan for the nation. Since that time, I've
focused on making the tough but necessary decisions to make up for years of
economic neglect. We passed a comprehensive fiscally responsible national budget;
raised new and necessary revenues to reinvest in the people, and implemented new
anti-corruption measures that have led to the highest collection of taxes in history.
Nothing should stand in the way of this work, or the next phase of my reform agenda,
which includes new investments in education and social services with our new
revenues, and an expansion of our successful anti-corruption and lifestyle checks.
That is why I want to close this chapter and move on with the business of governing.
I ask each and every one of you to join hands with me in a show of unity, to help
forge One Philippines, where everyone is equal under the law, and where everyone
has the opportunity to use their God-given talents to make a better life.
Our nation is strong and getting stronger. The progress is steady and I ask you to
walk with me on this journey to rebuild our great nation.
I remain your humble servant and promise you that I will fulfill my constitutional oath
of office to serve the people to the best of my ability.
God Bless the Philippines!
PGMA's Message in Response to the Presentation of a Multipartisan Manifesto
of Seven Philippine Political Parties Rizal Hall, Malacaang (12 July 2005)

Speaker de Venecia; Secretary Bert Gonzales, representing the different political

parties who met today; ladies and gentlemen:

First I'd like to thank Speaker de Venecia for this multipartisan manifesto. I know this
will be met with criticism for those who want me to resign from office and short cut
the constitutional process. But I'd like to appeal to them to listen to the voice of the
law, the fundamental law of the land. We must all have the discernment to know
what's good and right for the Filipino people. And I thank the political parties for
making this discernment in coming up with this very important fundamental reforms.

In response to what we have recommended, let me say again a few things. Let me
repeat some of the things that I said in my statement last Thursday. I said last
Thursday that over the years, our political system has degenerated to such an extent
that it's very difficult to live within the system with hands totally untainted. Our system
has degenerated to such an extent that more often than not it's political agenda first
and national interest last. For example, we have endless investigations and scandals
in aid of politics and media projection rather than in aid of legislation or executive
action. Because of this system of politics, our country has been left behind by other
countries in the region, and our best and brightest, the cream of our youth are bolting
with their feet to leave the country.

The political system that we are a part of has... All part of has indeed degenerated to
the point that it needs fundamental change. And I am glad that the statement of the
manifesto talks about that fundamental change. We are collectively to blame for the
degeneration of the system. We must collectively be the solution. And indeed I said
earlier, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. And to those who feel that they
cannot cast the first stone, I invite them all to help me in the solution.

Thank you for your inputs to what will be my state of the nation address. But
anticipating that state of the nation address, I already said last Thursday a few
things. I said that what I intend to do is to work with you, the legislators and the civil
groups who believe that changes in the fundamental law of the land are necessary in
order to confront such basic issues as federalism, parliamentary form of government,
reducing red tape in government processes, running for the public office under a true
party system and with less need to raise campaign funds, modernizing the economic
provisions of the constitution, and so forth.

In the meantime, I am restructuring and strengthening the Cabinet. Today, I

announced the appointment of Land Bank President Margarito Teves as the new
secretary of Finance. I am asking our sectors to give me names of candidates that
we can invite to replace those who will not return to the cabinet or even to help out at
other levels of the government. And now that I am restructuring and strengthening
the Cabinet, the cabinet will be given a free hand on governance while I focus on the
fundamental changes that we need to put in place, many of them being indicated in
your manifesto.

I will begin to reach out to political and civil sectors that have an interest in the
various advocacies that are relevant to our constitution. For instance, in the last
campaign, I was the only candidate who advocated for a parliamentary federal form
of government.

And so Mr. Speaker, I shall therefore study the ideas contained in the manifesto in a
manner of a president listening closely to the pulse of the people and see how
support and consensus can be consolidated not only among our allies but among
those who may differ with us but have a clear stake in the future of our nation.

Thank you once again, Mr. Speaker, for your collective expression of faith in the
constitution.

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.

PGMA's Message in Response to the CBCP's Statement

Study Room, Malacaang (10 July 2005)
I'm deeply grateful to the bishops for their statement of guidance and wisdom. I
appreciate their collective voice of moderation and temperance at this time of
national soul searching.

I will read every line and everything between the lines of the bishops' statement in an
effort to bring greater moral enrichment to a nation impoverished both in its material
and spiritual foundations. I shall continue to pray with the Filipino people for true
redemption from corruption and evil.

I've searched deeply for moral discernment. The second letter of St. Paul to the
Corinthians rings true for me. I cannot boast about myself except about my
weaknesses. But I know, in faith, that in my own weakness, his power can be made
perfect in me, to help me become the servant-president for you, in the way he wants
me to be.

We must also focus on getting our economy moving. I will work with the church,
members of civil society and all others to help build a better quality of life for the
people of the Philippines, and to put an end to the political bickering that is causing
such harm to our nation.

Once more, I pledge to do everything within my power to earn your enduring trust
and support.

Once again, beloved bishops, thank you.