Arroyo works on image as Philippine foes circle

By John O’Callaghan

MANILA (Reuters) – A week before a crucial policy speech,
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is trying to
project an image of a leader focused on the economy and the
people, rather than one beset by political crisis and clinging
to power.

Arroyo, fighting allegations of vote-rigging in last year’s
election and graft in her family, survived a wave of
resignations and defections on July 8 with the support of a few
key allies.

On Monday, she was due to swear in her new finance and
budget secretaries — Margarito Teves and Romulo Neri — and
meet loyal members of Congress and youth leaders at the
presidential palace.

In a week’s time, on July 25, she is to give an annual
state of the nation address as Congress returns from recess
with impeachment talk in the air.

A rally by 120,000 supporters on Saturday upstaged a
protest by her foes earlier in the week, but opposition
politicians said plans to present Arroyo as a friendlier, more
empathetic person would not restore her lost credibility.

“She can smile or dance but people won’t believe her
anymore. It’s too little, too late,” Senator Sergio Osmena told
reporters.

Roman Catholic bishops, a powerful moral and political
force, gave Arroyo a reprieve on July 10 by refusing to join
calls that she resign but said an investigation of the 2004
election and impeachment moves in Congress would not be against
the Gospel.

The incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines said attempts to resolve the crisis with a
new constitution and shift to a parliamentary system were
doomed if politicians did not change their ways.

“If people in leadership are products of warped and
wobbling values, what can we expect but to have a warped and
wobbling republic,” Archbishop Angel Lagdameo told the
Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper.

NEW LOOK, FAMILIAR WOES

Weeks of turmoil have kept investors on edge and raised
fears that a protracted impeachment process or constitutional
debate will distract from reforms to raise revenues and cut
debt.

The peso opened at 55.78 to the dollar on Monday, slightly
stronger than its close at 55.845 on Friday. The main stock
index was up 0.7 percent in early trade.

The opposition is warming to an impeachment motion,
conceding Arroyo is unlikely to be forced out by protests
nowhere near the size and social breadth of “people power”
revolts that toppled presidents in 1986 and 2001.

While defections among Arroyo’s allies have raised
opposition hopes of gathering enough support to start the
impeachment process, analysts say her supporters in the Senate
will make it difficult to convict her.

An impeachment motion needs 79 votes, or one third of the
lower house of Congress, to go to a trial by the upper house’s
23 senators. An impeachment conviction in the Senate, which
would sack the president, needs two-thirds of the senators’
votes.

As the crisis erupted in early June, Arroyo’s ratings were
already the lowest of any leader since dictator Ferdinand
Marcos was overthrown in 1986.

The daughter of a late president, Arroyo is perceived to be
aloof and lacking in warmth. Her work ethic is unquestioned but
aides say she likes to have a hand in all decisions.

The Inquirer accused Arroyo’s team of running last year’s
election campaign all over again as its crisis strategy.

“This is a gross error, because it mistakes mere motion for
actual movement,” the paper said in an editorial on Monday.
“Not least, it hardens public perception that political
survival is indeed President Macapagal Arroyo’s only
objective.”