PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY NOW THAT GMA HAS RESIGNED.Â* THE ONLY HOPE FOR OUR ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS THROUGH PRAYERS AND FOR EACH AND EVERY FILIPINOS TO BE UNITED AND BE WISE IN MAKING DECISIONS FOR A BETTER FUTURE FOR OUR COUNTRY.Â*
MAY GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
Mga kababayan, magandang madaling araw:
I have spoken to you many times from this office, where many erroneous decisions have been made which grievously affected the fate of our nation. Each time, I did so to discuss some matter of national interest, even if it meant that in a number of times I would have to go back on my word.
In the same manner and time that you were awakened by my proclamation in the wee hours of dawn on June 24, 2004 as President for a six-year term, I now rouse you to listen to what I feel is the best way, notwithstanding what my good sense and better judgment tell me, to deal with the crises that have gripped our nation.
In all the decisions I have made, I have always tried to do what I imagined Pope John Paul II advised me to do when I asked him whether it would be a legal and moral act to unseat a constitutionally elected President. Throughout the questionable period of that succession — and until now — I have always felt it was my duty to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which the overwhelming majority of people in Pampanga, Cebu, Iloilo, Bohol and the quaint town of Tipo-Tipo in faraway Basilan have elected me.
In the past few weeks, however, it has become evident — by way of ringer tones, surveys, media broadcasts and rantings of columnists and fair-weather, treacherous allies — that I no longer have any credibility to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such credibility, I felt I could tough it out and invoke a constitutional process which could be moderated by my allies in Congress.
But with the disappearance of that credibility, I now believe that the constitutional process would not serve to get me off the hook. There is no longer a need for this fragmented national unity of our Strong Republic to be prolonged.
I would have preferred to wage a battle to the finish, whatever the personal agony it would have involved me and my family. My only husband, his brother, and my favorite son, have urged me to do so, even as they have exiled themselves to avoid being smeared when the fecal matter hits the air-conditioner.
I do not blame the deserted feeling that I have on my allies in Congress, who have been silent in defending me from allegations of malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance. There have just been too many termites in my administration who know nothing but take advantage of me. My spokesman is a very loyal man, and I would not either condemn him for his zeal in protecting me from the slings of outrageous fortune, or deride him for being too naive not to know the difference between an original disc and a copy. And so the interest of our nation must always come before any personal lapse of judgment and show of bravura.
From the enlightened calls I have received from past presidents, ineffective vice presidents, resigned Cabinet members, congressional leaders, officers of the military and members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) not to mention an irate actress, I have concluded that the Gloria-Garci tapes have broken the back of our patient, ever-suffering nation and goad it into a rampage of bloodshed and fraternal strife.
I have never been anybody who gives up easily, as probably most of you will remember when I decided to break a promise not to run for the presidency. To vacate the presidency before my term is finished is repugnant to every impulse in my physical and mental structure. But I must put the benefit of the Philippines first. You need a full-size President to work with a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems of poverty, unemployment, corruption and a myriad more.
The allegations of jueteng have not even reached as far as the door to the Palace. The veracity of the contents of those tapes that everyone salivated on would implicate me have never been proved. I must admit, though, that the corruption that enveloped my administration, that gave us the distinction of being the second most corrupt nation in Asia, has stymied my effectiveness to govern.
To continue to fight for my personal vindication from all these would totally absorb my time and attention, in a period when my entire focus should be on the greater issues of an expanded value-added tax that was intended to be a palliative, but you have just been too eager for results of instant prosperity.
True, I won by only just over 1,000,000 votes over Fernando Poe Jr., just as a phonepal in Intramuros had assiduously calibrated and predicted, but it was victory well-deserved nonetheless. Fact is, I have been in power very much longer than anyone had ever predicted, and it must be God that kept me afloat all these years. I will say it again: The Lord brought me to the presidency, and now that He has spoken through the people, I am leaving it at His bidding.
I can only blame all these on myself. I have been much too proud to admit to any imperfection, but I cannot but make such an admission now.
I could go on and on. But now I find it impossible to govern. I have a disapproval rating of 64 percent, the highest ever for any President. My political base has been significantly eroded. Members of Congress, including those in the Liberal Party whom I pampered, have expressed their desire for me to go. People are marching in the streets. The military, the protector of the people, have spoken. The members of the PNP have said they do not want bloodshed. Just as easily they came to my succor in 2001, they are now saying my time is up.
I must admit I have lost my mandate to govern; Zion is far from restored.
At high noon today, I shall resign from the presidency. My Vice President, who shall speak after me, shall also resign effective at the same time. You all know he is ill-prepared for the weight of responsibility and the art of presidential governance. Instead, he shall go back to a chore he does best — reading the news scribbled on an idiot board. The process of constitutional succession under Section 11, Article VII of the Constitution shall be then followed.
History will judge me better than now. With no rancor in my heart, with my head held high, I know I have done my best.
God bless the Philippines!
RESIGNATION SPEECH from the PRESIDENT!
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