MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang Tuesday called on critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to moderate their call for her to step down, pointing out that she had a mandate to serve until 2010.

Lorelie Fajardo, deputy spokesperson of the President, said the Palace respected the right of the people to protest.

“However, they should temper their action with positive action and denounce any attempt of any group to use or be used to destabilize the government. We should all exercise sobriety and fairness in appreciating the motives of certain individuals and groups,” she told reporters.

Fajardo said certain senators were forcing witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. to link Ms Arroyo to the scandal-tainted National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp.

She said the Senate investigation had “not directly linked the presidency” to the since-scrapped deal “in any way, or any of the circumstances.”

She added: “Innuendos and the habit of linking the President [to the scandal] is no cause for her to resign.”

Call for reforms

As the controversy over the NBN-ZTE deal continued to simmer, Ms Arroyo announced a directive for her officials to pursue reforms with the help of the Church and the private sector.

She said these reforms were intended to lessen the incidence of graft and corruption and cut red tape in the bureaucracy, which, she noted, were what ordinary Filipinos and investors had been complaining about.

“I am directing the Anti-Red Tape Task Force of [Trade] Secretary Peter Favila and the Procurement Transparency Group of [Budget] Secretary Nonoy Andaya to collaborate with the private business sector, academe and Church for reforms in the system of government,” Ms Arroyo said in her opening statement at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

She said this was among the measures that her administration was undertaking to protect the Philippines’ strong economy from the threat posed by the slowdown of the global economy.

Reminder

But Palace officials said the directive had nothing to do with Lozada’s claims of bribery and overprice in the NBN-ZTE project.

In his testimony at the Senate last week, Lozada described the procurement system in government as “dysfunctional.”

But Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye told reporters Ms Arroyo’s directive was just a “constant reminder” of her previous directives, and not in reaction to Lozada’s testimony.

“From time to time, the President reviews the progress that concerned agencies are making in regards to previous directives,” he said.

For example, he said, at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Ms Arroyo issued a directive to relax accreditation rules in the deployment of Filipinos hired for white-collar jobs abroad. He said this was in line with her previous instructions to cut red tape so as to facilitate the flow of government transactions.

“The President has always been consistent,” Bunye said.

Andaya said Ms Arroyo’s directive was “one way of saying that we have put in place safeguards in the procurement system before Lozada came out.”

Transparency group

He said the Procurement Transparency Group (PTG), which he heads, was created last year by Ms Arroyo to link the government with the private sector in ensuring transparency in government procurements.

Andaya said the PTG had chosen civil society groups to nominate members who would sit as observers in the various bids and awards committees of government agencies.

He named these groups as the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference, Transparency and Accountability Network, Makati Business Club, Ateneo Government Watch, Confederation of Filipino Consultants and Procurement Watch Inc.

“The message of the government is: We’re asking people to volunteer to watch over public funds. The public should be involved,” Andaya said on the phone.

He said the PTG was made up of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, National Economic and Development Authority, the justice, budget and interior departments, and five nongovernmental organizations.

‘Singing an old tune’

Bunye said the Palace was not alarmed by the big protest action planned by militant groups on Friday.

“I’m not sure if it would be big. I don’t know. We’ll see,” he said, adding that calls for another “people power” uprising to topple the Arroyo administration was like “singing an old tune.”

Bunye also said there was a dwindling number of protesters in the streets because “the people want peace, stability, and despite the political noise, our President has the capacity to lead the nation, as evidenced by our improving economy.”

At any rate, the military and police are on their toes, according to officials.

Task Force Manila Shield

The Philippine National Police has activated Task Force Manila Shield in anticipation of mass actions in support of Lozada.

Senior Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, the PNP spokesperson, said the task force would guard against forces from the Left and Right that might “take advantage” of the protest actions to sow chaos and overthrow the administration.

Bartolome declared that the 125,000-strong PNP remained solidly behind the chain of command.

He said the task force would mobilize antiriot troops and deploy police patrols, and that the PNP Intelligence Group would beef up monitoring of the protesting groups.

Director Geary Barias, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, said the NCRPO was prepared for any threat during the mass actions but that he expected only a thousand protesters on Friday.

“We will make sure everything will be peaceful here in Metro Manila. We are optimistic any rally will turn out peaceful. We know the rallies are part of the opposition’s call for the ouster of the President, but the NCRPO is prepared for that,” Barias said.

He said the NCRPO would also be on the lookout for infiltrators from the communist New People’s Army.

6 years

According to Fajardo, the President is mandated under the Constitution to complete her fixed term of six years, “and that is what she intends to do.”

“We wish that the opposition will just wait until 2010,” she said, reiterating Bunye’s statement on Monday that Palace officials were “firm in our belief and on our stand that the President has a mandate up to 2010.”

Fajardo called on Ms Arroyo’s critics to unite to fight poverty. “Disunity and discord will only bring our country down from the gains we have all achieved,” she said.

Emerging from the Cabinet meeting, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that “of course,” the Arroyo administration was prepared to face any eventuality, including a purported fresh destabilization attempt.

‘Normal’

He said the renewed calls for Ms Arroyo to step down, take a leave of absence or call a “snap” election were “only taking off from what’s ... going on in the Senate.”

As for the planned big protest action on Friday, Ermita said the Palace was monitoring developments outside the Senate as well.

“Well, if it is organized by the opposition, you can always be sure that this will be taken advantage of by the opposition. It is something that’s still normal as far as politics is concerned,” he said.