Inquirer, 10/25/2007 11:37 PM
A petition is now circulating online for the immediate resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Vice President Manuel "Noli" de Castro Jr., with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV kicking off the signature drive.The petition, started last Sunday by "Juan de la Cruz" on the Web site PetitionOnline , also called for the holding of special "snap" elections within 60 days.
"Because of the numerous unresolved scandals involving the present administration, including but not limited to the 'Hello Garci' Election controversy, the ZTE, North Rail Project, Diosdado Macapagal Highway scandals, the Joc-joc Bolante Fertilizer scam, Jose Pidal caper, hundreds of unresolved extra-judicial killings and the latest Malacañang bribery Incident, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has completely lost her moral authority to govern this country," the petition read.
The petition said Mrs Arroyo has lost public sympathy and support in the light of her tainted electoral mandate and her responsibility for the numerous controversies hounding her administration.
On the other hand, it said De Castro benefited from the cheating perpetrated in the May 2004 elections and is also considered to be a "silent partner" in the alleged crime of Mrs Arroyo.De Castro was rapped "not only because of his close personal association and unflinching support for [Mrs Arroyo] but also because of his failure to stand-up against and denounce the abuses and excesses of the [administration]."
It also said the impeachment case filed by personalities connected with Malacañang effectively sabotaged and ridiculed the impeachment process."The only peaceful, legal and constitutional option available to the Nation under the circumstances and to prevent the situation from developing into a full-scale conflict or civil strife is for [Arroyo] and Noli De Castro to resign from their respective positions as President and Vice-President, of the Republic of the Philippines," it said.
The petition cited Sec. 10 of the 1987 Constitution where "Congress shall, at ten o’clock in the morning of the third day after the vacancy in the offices of the President and Vice-President occurs, convene in accordance with its rules without need of a call and within seven days enact a law calling for a special election to elect a President and a Vice-President to be held not earlier than forty-five days nor later than sixty days from the time of such call."
The petitioners called upon Arroyo and de Castro "to spare the country from further turmoil and violence by immediately resigning from their respective positions as President and Vice-President of the Philippines."
As of 7:50 p.m. Thursday, four petitioners other than Trillanes had signed the petition, including two overseas Filipino workers based in Saudi Arabia. - GMANews.TV
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment