MANILA, Philippines -- Responding to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s call for a ?new people power,? 52 governors Tuesday trooped to Malacañang to express their ?all the way? support for her.

In her opening statement at the meeting attended by governors belonging to the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and the National Economic and Development Authority, Ms Arroyo pledged transparency in the separate inquiries of government agencies into the purported bribery and overprice in the scrapped National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with China?s ZTE Corp.

?New people power?

She ordered the Department of Justice to ensure that its investigation was fair, truthful and unbiased, and to conclude it as soon as possible ?so that the truth would come out and justice prevail.?

She also directed the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman to report on the results of their separate investigations, ?so that the people would be able to judge whether the process was truthful and done with justice, and so that they can file a complaint if they see any irregularity.?

Ms Arroyo called on the people, the Church and the media to join the government in unearthing the truth in the NBN-ZTE deal.

?This is the new people power -- vigilant in the due process of the law to thresh out the truth,? she said, adding:

?Let us all pray and work together to achieve the new kind of people power so we may strengthen our democracy, achieve a stable society and economic growth.?

Emotional, moral support

Later, 27 of the 52 governors held a news conference to say that since last week they had been holding forums in the provinces on the NBN-ZTE controversy.

They said they took a ?unity walk? with Ms Arroyo on the Palace grounds to show their support for her.

Misamis Occidental Gov. Leo Ocampos, the LPP president, said the governors were backing the President ?all the way,? and that she was ?happy? with their support.

?She needs emotional and moral support, so we are here to reinforce it,? Ocampos said.

Said Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo: ?We conducted our forum so I could find out the sentiment of the people in my province. And it?s not surprising to me that from the barangay level to the municipal and the provincial levels, no one contradicted our sentiment that we will support the President and her government.?

?Only objective conduct?

Saying she was a lawyer, Castillo asked for the rule of law to prevail in the ongoing crisis.

?The only objective conduct, whether private or official, should be the law. It is what the law says that we should follow,? she said.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said the governors were supporting Ms Arroyo because the economic strategy she was pushing was ?correct.?

?We?re reiterating our confidence in the leadership of the President to execute that strategy. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the countryside to continue her mandate toward 2010 ... and the country is better off if the President continues her term,? he said.

Salceda said that during the meeting with Ms Arroyo, the governors had a ?spirited discussion? on the economic strategy for the countryside.

Among the issues discussed were mining and ?how to make the rice price go down,? he said.

Food summit

Malacañang opened to the media the initial part of the meeting.

Ms Arroyo said the agenda of the meeting was to discuss the upcoming National Food Summit and how local government officials could contribute to economic progress.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the summit aimed at tackling measures to ensure food security would be held on April 4.

During the meeting, Salceda personally apologized to Ms Arroyo for his remark at a business seminar last week that ?if she?s a bitch, she?s the luckiest bitch around? because of the economic growth.

It was the first time Salceda and the President saw each other since the remark was made, but he has apologized to her.

Tuesday, he approached Ms Arroyo, took her hand and brought it to his forehead in the traditional mano po gesture.

Ms Arroyo gave her hand with a laugh.

Asked later by reporters whether he thought the President was still the ?luckiest bitch,? Salceda merely said he had made ?an inappropriate remark.?