Arroyo gets security forces backing
Show of support comes amid rallies and ex-president Estrada calling for her to go.
Students, teachers, religious leaders and activists marched through 15 cities on Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the creation of the country’s “people power” movement, following a series of corruption scandals involving Arroyo.
Thousands across the country called for Arroyo’s resignation [AFP] |
The latest claims to affect Arroyo involve allegations that her husband and a close political ally received $130m in illegal payments in return for putting pressure on the government to approve an overpriced national broadband network contract with a Chinese corporation.
A powerful council of bishops is to meet on Tuesday, however, to discuss the political situation.
Arroyo has warned rivals against any attempts to remove her from power, saying a people’s revolt for the third time would hurt the country politically and economically.
Thousands disagreed with her, apparently, with between 4,500 and 6,000 marching on the streets of the capital, Manila, on Monday, and
smaller crowds demonstrating in other cities.
The protests were all held peacefully amid tight security.
Estrada joins chorus
Interview |
Estrada, the last Philippine president to be forced from office in a “people power” revolt, told Al Jazeera: “If the people don’t like her anymore, well it’s time to go.”
He said people felt that Arroyo had been insulting and fooling them throughout her presidency, and that now they had reached a limit.
“That is why so many different organisations are asking her to resign,” added Estrada, a former film actor, who remains hugely popular among the masses despite being convicted of “plunder” in September last year.