Lugar: US against unconstitutional ouster

WASHINGTON — United States Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, said impeachment proceedings should be instituted against President Arroyo if "there is something to the charges" she cheated her way to victory in the last elections.

The Republican senator from Indiana also said the US government would not support any regime change in the Philippines other than through constitutional means.

Lugar, who has been an active supporter of the Philippines, told The STAR at a US-ASEAN business council dinner in Washington for visiting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that Mrs. Arroyo should be given the chance to finish her six-year term.

If there are any grounds to support charges she cheated in the polls, then the law should be followed and she should be brought up for impeachment, just like former US President Bill Clinton, he said.

Clinton was impeached in January 1999 for allegedly providing false and misleading testimony to a grand jury regarding his sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He was found not guilty at the Senate trial with 45 senators voting for his removal from office and 55 against.

Mrs. Arroyo, under pressure by the opposition to quit over allegations of poll rigging which she denies, has refused to resign but has expressed willingness to face impeachment proceedings before Congress, where her allies hold a majority of seats.

While the President refuses to "rediscuss" her mandate by the "power of a mob in the streets," Mrs. Arroyo said she is amenable to cutting her term short to give way to amending the 1987 Constitution and implementing the resulting changes in the Charter.

Calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation have mounted in the wake of a mass resignation of 10 members of her Cabinet, who also called for her to step down as they announced that they were quitting their posts during a press conference Friday last week.

Finance Secretary Purisima, Education Secretary Florencio Abad, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles, National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Imelda Nicolas, Trade Secretary Juan Santos, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rene Villa, Customs chief Alberto Lina, and Internal Revenue chief Guillermo Parayno declared their irrevocable resignations from Mrs. Arroyo’s official family last Friday.

Former President Corazon Aquino has also asked Mrs. Arroyo to resign to spare the country from the turmoil that would result if Mrs. Arroyo faces an impeachment trial.

Aquino has also urged Vice President Noli de Castro to take over the helm of government once the President steps down.

Another former president, Fidel Ramos, has shown support for Mrs. Arroyo, as have Speaker Jose de Venecia, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and Environment Secretary Michael Defensor among others.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines meanwhile said it would not call for the President’s resignation. The CBCP’s position is deemed pivotal by political observers because the Church, particularly the late Manila Archbishop Emeritus Jaime Cardinal Sin, played a key role in the people power revolts that ousted former Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada.

Lugar was one of a number of high-ranking congressional leaders and Bush administration officials who attend the dinner for Lee.

A highlight of Lee’s visit was the signing on Tuesday of a Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) between the US and Singapore which expands the scope of their defense and security cooperation.

The SFA defines Singapore as a major security cooperation partner of the US.