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Philippines' Aquino vows probe into president Arroyo <!-- TITLE : end-->
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TARLAC, PHILIPPINES - Benigno Aquino, the man set to become the next Philippine president, said Tuesday he planned to have the incumbent Gloria Arroyo investigated for alleged vote-rigging.
Aquino said that while he made no judgement about Arroyo's guilt or otherwise, she should be investigated over a phone call she allegedly made to an election commissioner during the 2004 presidential poll.
'The bottom line is, these allegations of vote manipulation during the 2004 elections have never been settled,' Aquino told AFP in an interview as he awaited official confirmation of his victory in Monday's election.
'Was there such a conversation? Did it occur? And if it did occur, who was responsible? What did they exploit? What weaknesses with our laws were exploited?'
The 50-year-old senator also vowed to fight corruption and bring in clean government, but said it would take more than the single six-year term set by the constitution to carry out the social transformation of the Philippines.
'I want to lead by example. We talk about corruption. I did make a public vow, I will never steal,' he said, adding that this would give him the 'moral authority' to make others conform.
'But we are hoping to provide that impetus and momentum to carry over into the next administration,' he said in the interview in his northern home province of Tarlac.
Aquino said that, should he become the next president, he would follow up the so-called 'Hello Garci' scandal, named after the election commissioner in the alleged 2004 phone call.
'I intend to come up a mechanism that will solve each and everyone of these issues, with the end view of, if there is a crime, charging the people who are guilty, ensuring they go to jail and delivering a message that there is certainty in this country that if you commit a crime you will be punished.'
Arroyo is the suspected voice in a telephone recording in which a woman appeared to pressure an election official into ensuring the 2004 presidential vote count stayed in her favour.
Without admitting that she was the woman in the call or doing anything against the law, Arroyo apologised to the nation and later rode out two ensuing impeachment attempts against her.
Aquino was careful not to claim victory, as the official count had not been completed and he said it was not up to him to declare himself the winner.
'I want to make sure we finish all the processes,' he said.
But with a near-completed automated count showing him well clear of his nearest rival, former president Joseph Estrada, Aquino outlined some of his plans for the presidency and spoke at length in critical tones about Arroyo. 'She could have brought significant changes to this country but she chose to advance her personal interests and those who were supporting her personal interests to the detriment of the country,' he said.
Arroyo, a feisty 63-year-old, will not however be fading into the political background as she ran Monday for a seat in Congress, where she is widely expected to create a new power base.
The daughter of a former president, Arroyo is no stranger to palace intrigue.
She was Estrada's vice president when a civilian-military coup took place in 2001. As the uprising peaked, Arroyo switched allegiance to the rebels and was sworn in to serve out the rest of Estrada's term.
Elected in 2004 to her own six-year term, Arroyo earned praise for imposing fiscal discipline and bringing the country its highest economic growth rates in 30 years.
But charges of massive corruption, fraud in the 2004 election and an image of arrogance steadily eroded her public approval and trust ratings.
Al Jazeera News URL
Aquino vows Arroyo graft probe
The man set to be the next president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, has said he will investigate his predecessor for corruption.
Wednesday's announcement came as the outgoing leader appointed an ally to post of chief justice of the supreme court.
Gloria Arroyo, who has faced persistent accusations of corruption in her nine years as president, appointed Renato Corona, her former chief of staff and spokesman, to the highest judicial position in a move critics say is to protect herself from investigation after leaving office.
But a spokesman for Arroyo - who has promised a smooth transition before her term ends on June 30 - said on Wednesday that the outgoing president was ready to face an investigation and would not enjoy any legal immunity.
"This offers the president an opportunity to answer these accusations, to clear the air and submit herself to the judgement of history," Gary Olivar, the spokesman, told the AFP news agency.
Aquino, who was once taught economics by Arroyo, said she should be investigated over a phone call she allegedly made to an election commissioner during the last election in 2004.
Fraud allegations
Arroyo is suspected of being the voice in a telephone recording of a woman appearing to press an election official into ensuring the 2004 vote count stayed in her favour.
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</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Arroyo has apologised for making the call but denied any wrongdoing, and has ridden out past impeachment attempts in congress with the help of legislators allied to her.
Aquino, who campaigned on pledges to investigate allegations of electoral fraud, corruption and rights abuses by the outgoing administration, said there was a "necessity also for reforming our judicial system so we are not locked in a battle in the courts in the next two decades".
"We need to have closure on all items like the fertiliser scam. We lost 720 million pesos ($16m). Who is responsible for this? Let's also look at the ZTE."
In both cases Aquino mentioned, there are allegations of overpaying for deals and diversion of funds.
"There is no reason why you cannot expedite the solution of these cases," Aquino said.
"I still have to consult the DOJ [justice department] on how best to go after this."
With nearly 80 per cent of ballots counted from Monday's polls, election commission Comelec has stopped updating its unofficial tallies, having said Aquino had more than 40 per cent of the votes, far ahead of former president Joseph Estrada's 25 per cent.
Arroyo's chosen successor and former defence secretary, Gilberto Teodoro, was running a distant third.
But a winner can only be declared after all the results are in and Estrada has said he will not concede based on unofficial results, though he does not plan any protest of the outcome.
The US and EU hailed the overall conduct of the vote, despite scattered outbreaks of deadly violence and some problems with the automated ballot-counting machines.
