Philippine political situation stabilizes a little, Fidel Ramos

Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos said Friday that the political situation in the country has stabilized a little since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made her annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Congress on July 25.

"It has stabilized a little better than the situation of July 8 and July 25, let's put it that way," said Ramos at a press conference in the headquarters of the Philippine military, Camp Aguinaldo.

He was referring to the resignation en masse of 10 cabinet members on July 8 and the political tension surrounding Arroyo's SONA address.

"But it's not that nice and easy and smooth. Everybody, specially the elected officials, has to work hard to repair the hole in our not so modern ship," said Ramos who compared the Philippines to "a ship with many holes" several times.

Ramos also said the House of Representatives should be given the prerogative to terminate the ongoing impeachment process against Arroyo if the opposition fails to muster enough support to transmit the complaint to the Senate for trial.

"Let it go through but the leadership of the House must be given the leeway to cut off the process when enough time has been given and there are not yet enough votes to add to the 79 ( required signatures)," he said.

Some opposition lawmakers have submitted to the House an impeachment complaint against Arroyo over her alleged election fraud and corruption charges against her family.

But they have failed to gather the minimum 79 votes from a 236- member House to extend the impeachment complaint to the Senate for a formal trial of Arroyo.

Source: Xinhua