MASS AT THE PALACE. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo glances over Speaker Prospero Nograles during a mass at Heroes' Hall, Malacanang. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/LYN RILLON
Agence France-Presse First Posted 15:04:00 02/24/2008
MANILA, Philippines--President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Sunday firmly denied her family profited from government deals and vowed she would spare no one if they are found guilty of corruption.
The statement came as security forces prepared for a massive anti-government protest on Monday to push for Arroyo's resignation amid a scandal linking her spouse, Jose Miguel Arroyo, and a political ally to an aborted telecoms deal.
"I am not perfect, but I have worked everyday to achieve positive and lasting change for the nation," Arroyo said, stressing that she would not allow corruption to erode economic gains.
"I guarantee that whoever is found guilty will be made to answer," Arroyo said. "We will hold officials accountable if they are found to be corrupt. We will spare no one as investigations are concluded and friend and foe alike are brought to account for their actions in the proper courts."
"I am the president, no one else. Only I decide issues relating to government. My family is not profiting from government," she said.
A government official has testified before a Senate inquiry that Arroyo's husband Jose Miguel, and former elections chief Benjamin Abalos tried to get millions in kickbacks from a telecoms deal with China's state-run firm ZTE.
The $339-million transaction was suspended by Arroyo when the allegations first surfaced late last year, fuelling anti-government sentiment in the streets.
Regular street protests have been taking place for the past month led by groups opposed to Arroyo. On Monday, a broad coalition of anti-government forces are scheduled to take to the streets for a protest coinciding with the 22nd anniversary of dictator Ferdinand Marcos' fall from power.
Marcos, who led the country with an iron fist for 20 years, died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, three years after a people-power revolt toppled his regime.
Anti-government activists have compared Arroyo to Marcos, whose family is believed to have looted as much as $10 billion from government coffers.
Arroyo on Sunday said she would step down from power when her six year term expires in 2010, and challenged those seeking the presidency "to develop a positive agenda for change and reform."
"The people want us to focus on working for the people and avoid the endless saga of political vendetta and mindless investigations," Arroyo said.
Arroyo herself was swept into the presidency in 2001, when her predecessor Joseph Estrada was toppled by a public revolt over allegations of corruption.
She finished out Estrada's remaining three years in office, and won a hotly contested re-election in 2004 amid allegations she cheated.
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