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Philippine commission to probe vote-rigging charges

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 01:29 CDT

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippines leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will form a truth commission to investigate vote-rigging allegations in a bid to defuse the worst crisis of her presidency, her spokesman said on Tuesday.

Civil society groups and Catholic bishops, a powerful force in the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines, had called on Arroyo to form a commission as a way to tackle allegations she cheated her way back into office in last year's presidential poll.

"On the matter of moral accountability and the need to restore trust, I have initiated the creation of a commission or similar body to look into the truth behind issues recently raised against me," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a television broadcast to the nation.

Bunye, reading a letter from the president to Archbishop Fernando Capalla, the former president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, did not give any details on the truth commission.

Arroyo has faced street protests and mass resignations from her cabinet over allegations she spoke to the election commissioner during vote counting for the May, 2004, presidential election.

The opposition has aired tapes of what it says is Arroyo's conversations with the commissioner to ensure she won by a respectable margin. She has admitted talking to an election official but denied any wrongdoing.

The crisis has spooked investors in the heavily indebted Philippines and last week, all three major credit rating firms cut their stable outlooks to negative over risks to an economic reform agenda that aims to cut the nation's budget deficits.

The Philippine stock market was already closed for the day when Bunye's announcement was made and foreign exchange trading was on a lunch break.

Arroyo, in a speech earlier on Tuesday to Filipino diplomats, said she wanted to win back the public's trust and support, promising to step up programs to provide electricity, water, cheap medicines and wide access to education for poor Filipinos.

"I intend to win the people's trust with good governance and urgent reforms," she said during celebrations marking the Department of Foreign Affairs' 107th anniversary.

Bunye said Arroyo defended her action not to resign despite mounting calls for her to do so, including from former allies such as ex-President Corazon Aquino.

"I believe that subsequent events and revelations may have given a more balanced view to this question, and that my decision to stay in my office is the correct one," Arroyo said in the letter read out by Bunye.

Source: REUTERS

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