Philippine President loses 11th official
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-18 09:14

Another Filipino cabinet member quit Sunday, the 11th to leave his post amid a six-week crisis over allegations that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo rigged last year's elections.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Silvestre Afable said he was stepping down as Arroyo's communications director but would remain as chief government negotiator in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a large Muslim group fighting for an independent Islamic homeland in the southern Philippines.

"I will continue to be chief negotiator but no longer in the Cabinet as communications director," Afable told the AP, giving no further explanation.

Ten Cabinet members, including key economic advisers, resigned July 8. They asked Arroyo to step down, too, saying she had been crippled by the elections scandal and lost her ability to govern.

Arroyo has refused to resign, saying she committed no crime and did not manipulate the results of the May 2004 presidential elections. Among those seeking her resignation are former President Corazon Aquino, a former ally widely regarded as a moral icon. Several business groups and Roman Catholic universities also have asked Arroyo to quit.

She has acknowledged talking with an official during the vote count and publicly apologized for the "lapse in judgment." But she argued she only wanted to protect her votes and did not attempt to manipulate the results. Arroyo said she was ready to face any impeachment complaint in Congress.

Huge "people power" demonstrations helped oust the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Arroyo's predecessor, President Joseph Estrada, in 2001. Arroyo so far has shrugged off almost daily protests, the largest on Wednesday with 40,000 people.

Arroyo's political allies staged a rally Saturday that drew a crowd twice that large. It was organized by religious groups and local government leaders capable of drawing tens of thousands of people, including government workers required to attend rallies.

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