MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE 3) Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has announced her resignation from office, saying although she wanted to face her accusers, ?the interest of my family, my office and more importantly the nation must come before any personal consideration.?

?The country demands a full time Ombudsman and full time Congress, both the Senate and the House of Representatives. To fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would, as it is, almost absorb my time and attention,? Gutierrez said, reading from a prepared statement during a press conference Friday.

?At a time when the present administration is in its infancy and beset with more urgent problems, the last thing that the nation needs is for the House and the Senate to be embroiled in a long drawn-out impeachment proceeding against a single public official,? said Gutierrez whose decision to step down came ahead of her impeachment trial amid allegations of graft and corruption.

Gutierrez has, among others, been accused of alleged neglect of duty in failing to act on the criminal and administrative cases filed primarily against her former boss and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and husband, Jose Miguel.

Gutierrez, whose resignation is effective May 6, said that her decision to resign should now enable the government to ?focus on the problem of the people rather than spending time and effort to remove me from public office.?

Gutierrez also acknowledged the ?opportunity given to me by GMA [former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s initial]? but said that her ?undivided attention is and forever will be for the Filipino people.?

Gutierrez said she would be turning over the Ombudsman?s day to day affairs to Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro.

In her column, ?The Essential? that appeared in this Friday?s issue of the Business Mirror hinted of her plan to resign.

?There is much darkness for me now. In a few weeks the Senate trial on my impeachment will begin. Uncertainties all around me loom and at times they seem to carry me away. And there is always something more painful that accompanies those uncertainties, despite the brave front I construct for all the world to see [especially my immediate office staff], and it is supposedly the path that would lead me toward a win-win solution to the multitude of problems I face today. That is resignation. It is supposedly the better of few options available to me today,? she said.

?Because if I persist in fighting the charges levelled against me and I lose, I lose not only my retirement benefits, the opportunity to again serve government in equally dignified but less taxing capacities, but will also reap the shame of being the first Ombudsman to have been forcibly removed from office,? she said.

Earlier on Friday, speculation was rife that Gutierrez would resign after Malacañang sources leaked the visit of Gutierrez to the Palace where she handed her resignation letter to President Benigno Aquino III.

Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo confirmed this, adding that the President had also accepted Gutierrez?s resignation.

Gutierrez was appointed in 2005 after her predecessor Simeon Marcelo resigned for health reasons following a three-year stint as Ombudsman.

Before Marcelo was Aniano Desierto, who, like Gutierrez was also faced with impeachment complaints.