Susan repeats GMA quit call

DAVAO CITY — Actress Susan Roces yesterday repeated her call for President Arroyo to step down and heed the mounting clamor for her resignation.

The widow of movie actor and presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. arrived here yesterday morning to attend the grand launching of the GMA Step Down Movement Mindanao (GSM), an organization composed of various opposition and militant groups that are seeking the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo from office.

"Don’t wait for all the stars to fall off the flag," Roces said, referring to the three stars in the Philippine flag representing the country’s three main islands Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Two of the islands — Visayas and Mindanao — have expressed willingness to secede from the country and form their own republics if the pressure to remove Mrs. Arroyo through extra-constitutional means continues.

Roces told The STAR in an interview that the President’s continued stay in office is dividing the country. The more disadvantaged regions, particularly in Mindanao, she said, are wanting to set up separate republics because of the inequitable distribution of the nation’s wealth.

Poe’s widow lamented that Mindanao remains mired in poverty in spite of the tremendous wealth it is endowed with and its huge contribution to the nation’s coffers.

She noted that Mindanao actually contributed more than 40 percent to the country’s economy but received a measly 12 percent of the total budget allocation.

She stressed that in the many years Mrs. Arroyo has held office, she failed to address other more important concerns of the regions, which triggered residents to favor secession.

The situation, she pointed out, is aggravated by the current political crisis and the President’s refusal to step down amid mounting calls for her resignation.

The President would do the country a favor by stepping down from office if only to keep the three stars in the country’s flag intact, she said.

"All our lives we always have the three stars in the flag and now, Mindanao and Visayas would want to put up their own republics, and so with Ilocos republic. What would it make of our flag now?" Roces asked.

The actress likewise questioned the credibility of the proposed truth commission that will investigate charges of massive fraud in last year’s election.

"Why? Is it credible? Who is going to appoint? Who is going to be tried?" Roces asked.