Palace shrugs off as recycled political propaganda call for President to resign
Manila (13 February) -- Here we go again!
This was the reaction today of Malacanang to the call of opposition leaders and critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her resignation.
In his weekly press conference this afternoon at the New Executive Building (NEB) in the Malacanang complex, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita shrugged off the demand that the President step down as a recycled political propaganda that is being recycled yet again in the wake of the testimony of Rodolfo Lozada before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the National Broadband Network-ZTE controversy.
"Sa palagay ko political propaganda iyan na inuulit na lamang nila. At pinagsasamantalahan nila ang mga isiniwalat ni Lozada na inaakala nila na makakapag-iba ng environment ngayon. So there's nothing new," Ermita said.
He said the President will continue to perform her duties as elected President, and nothing can stop her from running the affairs of government as mandated by the Constitution.
Ermita also stressed that the entire Cabinet stands behind the President and they will not allow anybody to force her to step down because she's not guilty of any wrongdoing.
"We stand by our President, who is our legitimate President," Ermita said, as he cautioned the people not to believe stories planted by government critics designed to undermine unity in the President's official family.
The President is doing her job, and there are conditions and procedures under the Constitution governing changes in the country's leadership, he added.
Ermita also assured the people that "everything is under control and the situation is normal."
The Cabinet, he said, is moving as one to help the President succeed in her mandate to improve the economy and the lives of the majority of the Filipino people, especially the poor. (OPS) [top]
