Cory, Hyatt 10 ask Arroyo to resign

FORMER President Corazon Aquino and the Hyatt 10 reiterated today their call for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign, following the foiled coup attempt against the administration.

In an interview with ABS-CBN, Aquino once again asked the President to make the supreme sacrifice, a call she first made on July 7, 2005 at the height of the "Hello, Garci" controversy. 

The Hyatt 10, a group of cabinet secretaries and officials, resigned from office on July 8 and asked Arroyo to relinquish her position.

Here’s the the full text of the statement issued by the Hyatt 10 today: 

HYATT 10 CONDEMNS ARROYO’S BETRAYAL
OF PEOPLE POWER
Statement of Hyatt 10 on the 20^th Anniversary of Edsa 1
24 February 2006

Last July 8, we tendered our resignation from the Arroyo government because it had lost its credibility and capability to govern with the confidence and trust of the people. We then warned that the President, instead of governance, would be preoccupied with ensuring her political survival at all costs.

Over the last seven months, we have seen our worst fears come to pass. The impeachment was quashed by technicality and generous dole-outs of patronage and political favor. Legitimate efforts to ferret out the truth were suppressed at every turn, with the cover-up on the Garci tapes, the imposition of the Calibrated Preemptive Response, and its issuance of EO 464, among others.

The declaration of a state of emergency today is the biggest blow to our democracy and further exposes Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s desire to hold on to power. It has had a chilling effect on our people’s exercise of their basic rights. On the 20^th anniversary of People Power 1, where we ended the rule of a repressive dictator, we face a government which brings us back to where we were two decades ago.

We condemn the violent dispersal of citizens who have peaceably assembled and marched to commemorate People Power and expose the truth about the unjust and corrupt governance under the illegitimate Arroyo presidency. This act is a betrayal of the heroism of the millions of Filipinos who risked life and limb at Edsa.

The Filipino people, steeled in the struggle under People Power I and II, will not accept this travesty of their rights and meekly surrender their hard won freedoms. They will resist—and resist at every turn. And this will only escalate the political repression to a point where genuine reconciliation and lasting peace will be impossible to attain.

The only way to move forward—and this time we appeal even more impassionedly—is for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to take the supreme sacrifice and resign.