‘Polls to be violence-free’

President Arroyo vowed yesterday to make the coming May senatorial and local elections violence-free and to end the culture of violence in the country’s politics as she called on Filipinos to vote for continued economic reforms and cleaner environment in choosing their candidates.

In an interview with the international Arabic news network Al Jazeera, Mrs. Arroyo also said authorities are aiming to solve each case of killings of journalists and activists and fully disclose to the public the results of their investigations whether the perpetrators are from the military, police or communist rebels.

She said the government would do "everything we can do" to ensure the elections would be honest, orderly and peaceful as she pointed out that her recent appointments to the Commission on Elections were "quite well-received."

"Certainly we want to promote credible elections. My appointments to the Comelec in the past two years were quite well-received. We also want to accelerate reforms in the military and the police so that a minimal number, if possible, no renegades would be acting," Mrs. Arroyo told her interviewer, Veronica Pedrosa.

The President said she aims to be able to reverse "the legacy of political violence and have instead a legacy of political culture."

"The elections are about the future. They are about whether we want to continue economic reforms, to clean the environment, to expand health care, to invest in modern education to create good jobs," Mrs. Arroyo said.

While she made an indirect pitch for possible administration candidates, she said she would continue to do her work even at the height of the election fever.

She said she wants each and every case of killings of journalists and political activists solved, adding she would be guided by the recommendations of the Melo Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Jose Melo, once its finishes its fact-finding mission.

She maintained that she deplores the killings "whether they are perpetrated by the left or right, they’re wrong."

"We had a sorry history of political violence in the country for more than a generation now, I would like to stop that once and for all," Mrs. Arroyo said, referring to the human rights record of the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship and which is said to be resurgent under her administration.