Arroyo fails to inspire press

Under fire from many quarters

Many newspapers in the Philippines believe President Gloria Arroyo sold the nation short in her state of the nation address.

They accuse her of ignoring her own political future following moves to impeach her for alleged electoral irregularities, and focusing on a red herring - constitutional change.

Manila's Tagalog-language Abante labels her the "Queen of Deception".

"Many were disappointed at the state-of-the-nation address [SONA] by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [GMA]. Aside from being 'hollow' and lacking vision. it was obvious she avoided the scandals plaguing her and her family."

"Instead of placing Charter Change (ChaCha) at the centre of her SONA, which is a strategy to mislead the people, Arroyo should have answered point by point the chronic graft and corruption in her administration, " Abante adds.

The problem is still Gloria Arroyo. The issues against her remain Daily Tribune columnist

"All she did was to float the proposal of Charter change (Cha-cha)," says a columnist in The Daily Tribune.

"She certainly did not present a roadmap which the country needs, she only claimed that despite the political turbulence, her focus on the economy will remain... There is nothing new, nothing that would be dramatic enough to change the tide in her favour."

"The problem is still Gloria Arroyo. The issues against her remain: Her having stolen the elections, her, and her family benefiting from payola, her loss of moral ascendancy and her questionable legitimacy, and even the corruption that continues in her government," the Tribune concludes.

An editorial in the Philippine Daily Inquirer suggests that, "If we were President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her political allies, we would agree to an impeachment trial and do everything to hasten the process."

"That is, if we have the truth and evidence on our side. If all the while we have not been telling the whole truth, then we would, for our own political survival, put up all sorts of obstacles to a speedy trial."

"The nation cannot be held forever in suspense while the economy suffers and political turmoil disrupts the people's daily lives."

'Non-speech'

A commentator in The Philippine Star described it as "a non-speech really". "La Presidenta's speech was bound to disappoint. I think she even planned it that way."

"The message was contained in what La Gloria wore. In short, while smiling sweetly at the audience and the TV cameras, GMA's in-your-face, subliminal statement was - call it fashion statement if you will - 'Me resign? Never!'"

He concludes: "GMA failed to inspire. She did not issue a call to arms to battle issues more important than her survival."

Anti-government statements are only propaganda aimed at further stirring up the already broiling political crisis in the country, Military statement in Bulgar

A report in the Tagalog-language Makati City Tanod quotes a leading senator as saying military support for the president could change "with the emergence of a group of soldiers who are withdrawing their support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo".

But a warning for such soldiers comes in the pages of another Tagalog paper, Quezon City's Bulgar.

"Any soldier found to be spreading defamatory statements and wrong information in order to incite others to rebel against the government will be arrested and charged with mutiny," an Armed Forces of the Philippines statement was quoted as saying.

"Anti-government statements from a group presenting itself as from the military are only propaganda aimed at further stirring up the already broiling political crisis in the country," the statement said.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.