Asian Political News: Arroyo offers reconciliation after winning impeachment battle

MANILA, Sept. 6 Kyodo

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday extended an olive branch to her political foes after Congress scrapped impeachment complaints against her.

''The opposition put up a good fight and I now offer my hand in reconciliation for the national interest,'' Arroyo said in a statement.

The House of Representatives earlier Tuesday threw out all three impeachment complaints against Arroyo.

''The Filipino people mark a glorious day in history, when instead of forcing a president out of office through people power, they chose to keep a president through voting in the halls of constitutional democracy,'' Arroyo said.

She thanked Congress, which is overwhelmingly dominated by her allies, ''for their faith in my leadership and in the good future of our country.''

''This is a grand display of political maturity that seals our stability and resilience as a nation battling the vagaries of a challenging age, and poised for takeoff,'' Arroyo said.

All three complaints alleged that Arroyo cheated in the May 2004 poll to ensure her reelection. One further accused her of human rights violations, corruption and, together with her family, of receiving kickbacks from illegal gambling operators.

Meanwhile, about half a kilometer away from the Congress building, former President Corazon Aquino and Susan Roces, widow of last year's beaten presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., led a 10,000-strong anti-Arroyo march to protest the rejection of the complaints.

Carrying ''Oust Gloria'' placards and chanting slogans calling for her removal, the anti-Arroyo alliance of civil-society groups tried to reprise ''people power'' uprisings that toppled two Philippine presidents in 1986 and 2001.

But analysts doubted if the anti-Arroyo protests can gather steam as recent street demonstrations have failed to attract big crowds.