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November 24, 2000, The Philippine Star, Arroyo presses alternative agenda, by Ding Cervantes,
CLARK FIELD, Pampanga -- Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vowed yesterday to continue discussing with her allies "an alternative national agenda" in the event President Estrada resigns or is convicted in a Senate trial.
She also asked the public to understand her position, and not look at her as a "power-hungry official eager to assume the presidency."
Arroyo explained that as the highest elected opposition leader, she has no choice but to exercise her leadership.
Cutting short her trip to Mindanao to speak before a top-level conference of the Kapisanan ng mga Brod-kasters ng Pilipinas (KBP) at the Holiday Inn here, Arroyo said it was her duty at this time of uncertainty to discuss the agenda, even in the face of criticism from various sectors.
"With the combination of a right national agenda and its implementation through good governance, we can win the struggle of today against poverty and tomorrow's struggle for our nation's proper place within the 21st century," she said.
The Vice President noted that when she initially chose to be silent amid the mounting calls for the President's resignation, "I was accused of being too coy and inscrutable by those who wanted to know my concrete plans and intentions."
"But when I did propose the core outline of an alternative national agenda, they began accusing me of being too shrill and precipitate," Arroyo said.
She said there is a need to pursue good governance based on three pillars, namely: a social-moral foundation to guide the leadership, a philosophy of transparency in government action, and an ethic of effective implementation throughout the bureaucracy.
"There is a need for the government to win the confidence of all the population through its integrity," Arroyo said.
The Vice President likewise identified the four components of her national agenda, namely: the economic philosophy of free enterprise, social and sectoral bias to guard a thriving economic development plan, a modernized agricultural sector founded on social equity, and improved moral standards in government and society.
She explained that in the process of pursuing free enterprise and world-class Internet capabilities, the government should still focus on the main battle to eliminate the inequity and poverty within society.
"Here, our weapons are structural reforms, safety nets for sectors affected by globalization, and safeguards for the environment," Arroyo said.
She pointed out, however, that without modernized agriculture, "we will never win the struggle against poverty in the countryside."
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