Keep out of RP affairs, Mussomeli asked

Joseph Mussomeli, the top American diplomat in the country, was urged yesterday to stop meddling in the nation’s domestic affairs.

The US Embassy’s Chargé d’ Affaires came under fire from party-list representatives in the House of Representatives for saying that President Arroyo can still recover from the political crisis she is facing and for discouraging people power efforts to remove her from office.

Rep. Satur Ocampo of the militant group Bayan Muna said Mussomeli should not dictate what Filipinos can or cannot do to oust Mrs. Arroyo.

"It is not up to him to prescribe what the sovereign Filipino people would have to do about the Arroyo problem. It is our right as a people to freely and exclusively decide on internal affairs like the presidency, sans interference from the US embassy," he said.

He said the US government apparently wants to keep the embattled leader in power because they are interested in "pro-US amendments under Mrs. Arroyo’s Cha-cha (Charter change) proposal."

US officials deny pushing for Cha-cha. Washington has taken a neutral stand in the current crisis, expressing support only for institutions and constitutional processes rather than individuals.

Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales of Akbayan said she agreed with the American diplomat that extra-constitutional means of removing the President, such as military coups, should be discouraged.

"But the legitimate right of the people to take to the streets does not run counter at all to the spirit of the Constitution and merely reflects the will of the public," she said.

She said Mussomeli’s remarks "show a dogged insistence on the part of the US to see to it that its war on terrorism is not sidetracked, not even by a serious political crisis weakening the already fragile democracy in an allied country."

Rosales added that with Mrs. Arroyo’s promise to prioritize the pending anti-terror bill, America is assured of continued support from the administration for its war against terror "even against the backdrop of an impeachment complaint and massive demonstrations by the people against the President."