MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang on Tuesday rejected the call of former president Corazon Aquino for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign, saying the incumbent's resignation is not the solution to the political crisis triggered by the allegedly graft-tainted national broadband network (NBN) deal.

"The search for truth and justice must not be coupled with a political advocacy of resignation, lest other selfish motivations are imprinted to the call," deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said in a statement.

"Former president Aquino is credited for the very Constitution we as a nation is following, and this same Constitution has given us the solution for searching for the truth through our justice system, not through a resignation call or trial by publicity," he added.

Aquino first called on Arroyo's resignation in mid-2005, when purported wiretaps of what appeared to be phone conversations between the President and an election official in which they allegedly discuss plans to rig the 2004 elections in her favor.

In a separate statement, deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo reminded the former president that like Arroyo, she too fought off ouster attempts that stemmed from allegations of corruption leveled against her government.

"With due respect to the former president, she herself was many times called on to resign during her term. In fact, there were nine coup attempts to remove her, all borne of alleged corruption," Fajardo said.

"We trust that she would have the understanding of the need to go by evidence and not by innuendos and simple ?chismis? [rumors]. We have to respect our institutions and the rule of law provided for by the Constitution," he said.

Arroyo is fighting off fresh calls for her resignation amid allegations that her husband, Jose Miguel, and former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos pocketed millions of dollars in kickbacks from the alleged overpricing of the $329-million contract between the government and China's ZTE Corp. for the NBN project.

She ordered the contract cancelled after the Senate opened its inquiry into the NBN deal.