President Aquino Not Bothered by Calls for His Resignation, Palace Official Says

President Benigno S. Aquino III will continue to fulfill his duties as chief executive until his term ends in June next year, despite calls for his resignation, a Palace official said on Friday.

Calls for the President’s resignation have mounted following the bloody clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that left 44 members of the police’s elite force dead.

In a press briefing in Malacañang, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the President has no intention to step down and will finish his term next year.

Valte observed that some of the groups demanding that the President resign have been making the same calls in the past few years.

However, their moves have not borne fruit because they have not gained the support of the majority of the people, she said.

Asked if she thinks the administration could overcome the current challenges, Valte said the country could move on once the truth comes out.

“The administration and the President are no stranger to issues, the national issues that confront us, and we hope that in due time, questions will be answered as well. We hope to move on and to properly find a resolution to all of these issues,” she said.

The Palace official also denied the existence of an exit plan for the President, calling the reports untrue.

“The President will step down on June 30, 2016. Any report or story of any other exit plan apart from that is fictitious,” Valte said.

As to the role of the President in the January 25 law enforcement operation to arrest two terrorist suspects, Valte said the result of the investigation being conducted by the Philippine National Police’s Board of Inquiry will bring more information to light.

“We all want justice and we all want full accountability. And part of that would be waiting for the results of the investigation to see what it will yield,” she said.

Apart from the police, the Senate, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Commission of Human Rights and other organizations have launched separate investigations on the Mamasapano incident.

A number of lawmakers have pointed out that the incident might derail the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is expected to put an end to the decades-long separatist war in Mindanao.

Backers of the Bangsamoro Basic Law want its immediate passage prior to the creation of a transition authority in preparation for an election next year to put up a Bangsamoro leadership. PND (as)