Arroyo's scandal-prone husband to leave Philippines

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

MANILA - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo moved dramatically to reduce pressure on her government from graft allegations, saying her scandal-prone husband had agreed to leave the country.

She did not say how long her husband would remain abroad, but analysts doubted whether the move would protect her from further attacks and noted that it could be seen as a sign of growing weakness, or desperation.

"This is a major political earthquake. There is an impending tsunami and they are trying to blunt it," William Esposo, a newspaper columnist, told Reuters.

Opposition lawmakers have said Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel, known widely as Mike, her son and another family member were involved in payoffs from gambling syndicates, but nothing has been proved.

The opposition has also accused her husband, whom a source in the Arroyo camp said would go to live in San Francisco, of helping her try to fix the results of last year's election. Arroyo admitted to speaking to an election official during vote counting and called it a lapse in judgment.

"Today, my family is once again called to sacrifice our personal happiness to allow me to serve best as president of our country," Arroyo, her voice cracking with emotion, told a business forum in Manila.

"My husband has volunteered to go abroad. I mention this here today because I want to signal to everyone that nothing can stop my administration from implementing ... our reform agenda."

Economists said the move would only add to questions about governance and that markets would not be impressed. The peso fell below 56 to the dollar on Wednesday for the first time since January.

"If the husband is around to attend hearings on past indiscretions, that might have been a preferred strategy rather than sending him abroad which may be interpreted as running away," said Song Seng Wun, economist at G.K. Goh Securities in Singapore.

A lawmaker allied with Arroyo who asked not to be identified said the president would make several further announcements in the coming days to try to get her administration back on track.

Analysts see little chance of Arroyo quitting and say it will be very difficult for the opposition to impeach the president because of her majorities in both houses of Congress.

The armed forces reaffirmed its crucial support for her this week and there have been no major defections among her allies.

But it does seem that the allegations are taking a toll.

Political analyst Earl Parreno said it was too early to tell if her tactics would work, adding that much depended on how effectively the opposition would respond.

"If the opposition fails to mobilise public opinion in the next few weeks, she could recover and land on firm ground. If the opposition to her snowballs, she would probably lose her job in the next six months," Parreno said.

News of her husband's exile came two days after Arroyo broke a three-week silence over the election allegations. She apologised in a national broadcast for speaking to an official but denied trying to fix the results, which showed she beat late movie star Fernando Poe Jr by just over 1 million votes.

The opposition refused to accept her apology and has renewed calls for her to resign, adding to nervousness in financial markets.

Poe's widow, Susan Roces, gave a fiery news briefing at which she accused Arroyo of arrogance by cheating in the election and called on her to quit.

"You are full of empty promises. You have no love for your country ... you have stolen the presidency not once but twice."

Anti-Arroyo groups said they would hold protests in Manila on Thursday and Friday, although recent rallies have been small.

Arroyo's husband, a businessman, has been dogged by graft allegations since she rose from the vice-presidency in 2001 on the back of protests that ended Joseph Estrada's presidency.

"My family will miss him terribly and I ask you to help pray that we remain strong as a family," Arroyo said.

- REUTERS