'Unrest fears influence ASEAN postponement'

Cebu (Philippines), Dec 9: Fears of political unrest in Manila while Asian leaders were meeting in the central Philippines influenced the government's hasty decision to postpone the region's annual summit, sources said today.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was concerned that mass protests against her allies' moves to change the political system could escalate while she was hosting regional chiefs.

The Philippines shelved the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting and an East Asia gathering on December 11-13 yesterday, blaming an approaching typhoon, which they said could cause havoc at the venue on Cebu Island.

But security sources said Arroyo also feared groups opposed to attempts to create a parliamentary political system would take advantage of the international spotlight and her absence from the capital to trigger destabilising demonstrations.

Powerful Catholic bishops have called for nationwide prayer rallies next Friday to demonstrate against the lower house of Congress' plan to vote without the Senate to change the constitution and shift the country to a parliamentary system.

Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai, which claims several million members, has also said it will hold a rally. Leftwing activists and other anti-Arroyo groups will likely join in.

Under pressure from impending protests, the lower house offered today to junk their plan if the Senate agreed to elections next year for delegates to a constitutional conve7ntion, which will look at changing the charter.

If the Senate does not agree, the lower house will convene itself as a constituent assembly and start debating junking the current US-style presidential system on Friday, three days later than planned.

''We are running out of time and we have to unite the country,'' House Speaker Joe de Venecia told a news conference.

The Senate, stacked with Arroyo's opponents, was unlikely to agree to any method of altering the constitution because it would be abolished in a unicameral parliament.

If the lower house goes ahead with its plan, senators are likely to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Arroyo, who has survived impeachment attempts, has championed the political switch to end gridlock between the legislative and executive branches of government and between the two houses of Congress, with the hopes of faster policy-making.

But critics accuse Arroyo, due to step down in 2010, of trying to use the proposed change to extend her term in office.

REUTERS

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