Careful not to make any claim of victory herself, Mrs. Arroyo thanked the international community for supporting the recent polls, saying international observers describe the elections as "generally clean and honest," contrary to opposition claims of massive fraud by the administration.
"I thank you all for your support for the recently held elections in our country in which more than a hundred international observers were involved to see democracy in action," she said in a speech at the traditional "vin d’honneur" with the diplomatic community at Malacañang’s Ceremonial Hall to commemorate the 106th anniversary of Philippine independence.
Also in attendance were former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, and top government officials.
"I also extend my gratitude to the 125 foreign observers who took part in our democratic process. They recognized that our elections were generally clean and honest as a model of living democracy," the President said.
Mrs. Arroyo, however, conceded there were some unnamed "politicians without conscience" who resorted to fraud and even violence in last month’s general elections.
She also reiterated her frustration over the slow canvass of votes in the presidential election being conducted by Congress, saying "the call of the times now is a speedy counting and lawful decision."
In offering a toast to "the prosperity and the progress of the whole Filipino people," Monsignor Antonio Franco, the Vatican’s envoy, congratulated Mrs. Arroyo in behalf of the diplomatic corps for the Philippines’ role in helping solve problems in the international community.
"We are certainly sure that the entities of government which we represent and yours, Madame President, is morally tasked to lead to the next generation a better world than the one we inherited. We are calling each one in his own field of action to participate in this great responsibility," Franco said in a speech.
"May God always bless, sustain and guide you, Madame President, your family and the entire people of the Philippines," he said.
Although an exit poll by respected research firm Social Weather Stations predicted a slim Arroyo victory over opposition front-runner Fernando Poe Jr., diplomats withheld any congratulations for Mrs. Arroyo because Congress has yet to determine the winner of the recent presidential race.
Malacañang earlier released letters of congratulations from Yoko Ono, the widow of former Beatle John Lennon, and Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inanime.
Poe’s camp, the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), claims the administration cheated in the elections and that Poe won by over a million votes based on their own count.
In a statement yesterday commenting on the congratulatory messages sent by Ono and Inanime, the KNP said it would "immediately write the concerned parties to relate to them the May 10 fraud so that the same kind of scam would not happen in Japan."
"Filipino voters still cannot fathom the need for this kind of comedy when the nation is being torn apart by the stonewalling of Arroyo’s minions in the joint congressional canvassing committee and their refusal to acknowledge the use of fake certificates of canvass in their tabulation," it said.
The KNP said it "sympathized" with Ono and Inanime for being "victims of Arroyo disinformation," adding that their letters were "used" by the Palace in an alleged "propaganda campaign to convince a doubting people that a loser in the presidential election suddenly became a winner."
It also extended its apologies "to the Japanese people that their outstanding citizens have been exploited to promote a lie in the Philippines." — With Nikko Dizon