The President Must Resign Now -- UP Diliman University Council

The University Council of UP Diliman yesterday called for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation. I agree with my teachers in UP.

Arroyo admitted that she talked to a Comelec Commissioner during the canvassing of votes in last year’s presidential election. That statement validates our suspicion that the woman’s voice on the Hello Garci tape belongs to the President.

If you listen to the tapes–or read its transcript–you’ll know that the phrase “pagpapataas sa inyo” that Garcillano said to Arroyo, as de Quiros wrote earlier, does not refer to trying to increase her height. And when you hear the president saying “yung dagdag, yung dagdag,” to a Comelec official, you know she’s not telling the truth when she said she did not cheat in last year’s election.

She lied to us when she said she won’t run again in 2004, and she gave us half-truths when she apologized for her “lapse of judgment”.

I think it is a lapse of judgment on our part to allow Arroyo to stay in office.

Below is the statement of the University Council’s statement:

The President Must Resign Now

Statement of the University Council (UC) of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City on the political crisis facing the Arroyo administration

13 July 2005

The pursuit of the truth and the quest for a democratic society are integral to the university’s mission in society. In the conduct of its work, the University of the Philippines is strictly guided by the paramount values of honesty, personal integrity, and responsibility.

We have strong reason to believe that the recent actions of the Arroyo administration in relation to the so-called “Gloriagate” tapes – the initial attempt at a cover-up, the use of threat and intimidation to prevent public access to these tapes, and the clever admission of half-truths to conceal a serious offense, among others – constitute a direct assault on nearly all the values we hold sacred in academe.

A careful analysis of the content and context of the recorded conversations between the President and Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano clearly shows that there has been a betrayal of public trust, if not a subversion of the people’s will in the last presidential election.

Grave economic problems confront the nation today. At no other time have we needed a leader who can heal the divisions in our society and inspire hope especially among our young people. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has done enough damage to our public institutions and to the country’s self-esteem. We cannot afford to be led any further by a dishonest president who has shown no qualms about using the awesome powers of her office for purely personal interests.

The University Council (UC) of UP Diliman, Quezon City – composed of professors, associate professors and assistant professors and chaired by the Chancellor – calls on the people to guard against foreign meddling and military takeover in charting the nation’s future in the event of her removal from office. UP Diliman faculty members will join the people in their struggle to build a progressive society and a responsible government and in their commitment to uphold civilian supremacy in government and governance.

We thus call on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to immediately resign.