Philippine Vice President Gloria Arroyo, who leads a united opposition, has prepared a list of her possible cabinet, her aides said Sunday, as the country braced for protracted impeachment proceedings against President Joseph Estrada.
Arroyo's lieutenants are reportedly preparing legal arguments for the impeachment motion to be taken up Monday by the House of Representatives justice committee.
She told reporters late Saturday that Estrada's administration was "politically dead" after key presidential and congressional allies quit the ruling coalition last week following allegations he received millions of dollars in bribes from illegal gambling bosses.
She said the presidential palace had sent "feelers" about a possible arrangement to allow Estrada a graceful exit, and vowed to facilitate a "peaceful and orderly" transition should the president decide to quit.
"There are feelers (but) I don't know if they're authorized," she said.
Arroyo floated names of possible cabinet members, including House of Representatives member Feliciano Belmonte as her chief aide, and former senator Alberto Romulo as finance secretary, according to one of her aides.
Other possible cabinet members included Congressman Benigno Aquino, son of former president Corazon Aquino, who has called for Estrada's ouster and blamed him for the country's current economic slowdown.
Arroyo, who is next in line to succeed Estrada, said she would consult the elder Aquino on who could become her vice president.
Under the Philippine consitution, the president can choose any Congress member as vice president if the office becomes vacant.
But Estrada advisers warned Arroyo that naming her "shadow cabinet" could backfire if the president is proved innocent.
"It's very premature for her to present her set of officials. We should respect the process provided by the constitution," said presidential adviser Roberto Aventajado.
He warned Arroyo that if Estrada is declared innocent her moves could harm her image and translate into a disadvantage if she decides to run for the presidency in 2004.
"Nobody can tell what's going to happen, it would be unfair to both parties if we have those kinds of announcements," said Aventajado, a longtime Estrada friend.
LAKAS opposition party secretary general Heherson Alvarez, who led the filing of the impeachment motion, said Sunday an Arroyo cabinet "would have a huge responsibility" in restoring confidence in the Philippines.
"The first thing that we should do is to clean up the anomalies that we pointed out," in the administration, Alvarez told radio station DZBB.
Once past the justice committee, the impeachment motion would be presented to the House plenary session on November 13.
Opposition parties have said more than 100 members of the 218-seat House have signed the impeachment complaint, paving the way for it to be sent up to the Senate, whose members will later sit in judgment.
Estrada's popularity sunk after a former friend, provincial governor Luis Singson, accused him last month of accepting payoffs from gambling lords and pocketing kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes meant for his home province.
The political crisis has also pulled down the peso to historic lows and the stock market to its lowest point in two years, with many prominent business leaders joining calls for the president's resignation.
Estrada has vehemently denied the accusations and vowing to defend himself in the impeachment proceedings in the House.
"It's just like in the movies," Estrada, a former movie action star, said on Saturday. "The hero gets beaten up in the beginning but still wins in the end." – MANILA (AFP)
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