Philippine leader to run for second term

Manila - Philippine leader Gloria Arroyo announced that she would run for president in May elections, reversing an earlier pledge not to seek a second term.

"I will run for president in the election of 2004," she told a crowd of 50,000 in her home province of Pampanga.

"I will offer myself to the electorate in 2004," she said.

In announcing her decision, Arroyo cited the need to spur the economy of the Philippines and repair the damage caused by the short-lived military mutiny against her on July 27.

Arroyo had said in December she would not seek another term so that she could turn away from politics and concentrate on government reforms.

However her critics have long contended that this was just a ruse to fend off opposition attacks.

Philippine law limits the president to only one six-year term but Arroyo is not covered by this as she was not elected president.

As vice-president, she took the presidency in 2001 after her predecessor, ex-president Joseph Estrada was ousted in a popular, military-backed uprising in 2001 due to a massive corruption scandal. -- AFP News

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