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Manila: Iconic Philippine leader Corazon Aquino on Tuesday called for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over a kickbacks scandal, saying she had lost the moral right to remain in office.
Aquino, served as president after the strongman Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in the 1986 "People Power" revolution.
Aquino said, "In an environment where abuse of power closes all doors of legitimate redress, sadly we are too often pushed to the brink. That is why the most noble, and least disruptive, way out of the moral crisis would be for the president to resign. "
Allegations of $130 million worth of kickbacks in a $329 million government telecoms deal with China's ZTE Corp. have haunted Arroyo for the past few months, and her husband has been named by witnesses testifying at a Senate inquiry into the deal.
But Arroyo has already survived three impeachment bids and at least three coup plots and has vowed to see out her final term, which ends in 2010.
Political analysts say she will likely do so because the powerful Catholic Church has not come out directly against her and she enjoys the support of the military and the lower house of Congress.
Arroyo has cancelled the ZTE deal and said on Tuesday that inquiries by the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice into the kickbacks allegations should be open so that the public could judge what was happening.
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