By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)
MACTAN, Cebu , Philippines – President Arroyo encouraged last Thursday foreign observers to come to the country and monitor the May 10 elections as she vowed that her greatest legacy would be ensuring honest and orderly polls.
Mrs. Arroyo told the meeting here of the Philippine Councilors League that “there is no more important legacy than to leave the nation with free and fair elections and a smooth transition to a new government.
“To protect the integrity of the vote and the election results, we encourage and welcome independent outside election observers to verify that elections are indeed free, clean and open and the results valid, free from any political interference,” the President said.
She said Filipinos deserve to have confidence “that their votes count and that our democracy works.”
“It is important to have independent verification, to give the people the confidence that the election works and the transition to a new government comes in smoothly,” she said.
She said: “For myself, I will be staying out of the election process. I will trust the Commission on Elections to ensure the new voting machines work, the votes are protected and counted and the results are delivered in rapid manner to the satisfaction of voters.”
Mrs. Arroyo said she would do everything she can in her remaining days in office “to make sure the new president and his team will hit the ground running when they assume office.”
“Our accomplishments to date must be passed on to new leaders to continue the forward march of progress,” she said.
Mrs. Arroyo sad she will remain focused on governance and advancing the key programs she had advocated since coming to office, namely infrastructure, education, health care, job creation and economic stability, including adapting the country to climate change.
“First the typhoon and now El Niño, that part of the work that you and I will have to do until our last moment in office,” she said.
She pointed out the coming election is “all about hope and building a brighter future for the next generation.”
Arroyo urged the next government to continue building on the investments that she had been making to move the nation forward.
She said the Comelec would make sure that the votes of the people are counted and delivered.
The President also lauded Cebu’s very own C-CIMPEL for being a watchdog during elections, as she encouraged other volunteer group to replicate what C-CIMPEL has done in watching the people’s votes.
She also thanked the councilors all over the country for their continued support for her administration.
The President had dinner with some members of Cebu media at Maribago Bluewaters Resort in Lapu-lapu City after the meeting with the councilors.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales also assured the people that the May 10 elections will push through as scheduled and belied rumors that he and the military would orchestrate massive poll fraud in favor of administration bets.
Gonzales also joined those who have defended newly installed Armed Forces chief Gen. Delfin Bangit from critics who believe that he would be used by Malacañang to manipulate the upcoming elections.
“There is a text message that is circulating in the country today, it is saying that I am going to engineer the cheating of the incoming elections with the assistance and help of Gen. Bangit, our new chief of staff,” he said during turnover ceremonies of the Army commander at Fort Bonifacio in Makati.
“We will have nothing to do with the elections... I want to end all the maligning. To me, this is a challenge, particularly to our chief of staff. We will see to it that the armed forces will be there on election day, we will make sure that that elections will be held as scheduled, we will make sure that that election will be clean and fair,” he added.
He said the accusation is just part of a long campaign to malign the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Gonzales claimed that some measures are being done to ensure a credible and violence-free election.
“On the first day of assumption as defense chief, one of the first actions I did was to talk to the Commission on Elections and to tell them that the armed forces will be at its full disposal.”
Gonzales also cited the government’s efforts to curb private armies, whom he said are being used by misguided politicians to coerce the people. With Alexis Romero, Mitchelle Palaubsanon
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