Malacañang prepares for new president

Malacañang created a transition team Tuesday that would pave the way for the new president to take over the reigns of government after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends her term on June 30. Mrs. Arroyo tasked Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza to head the Presidential Transition Coordination Team. "We must now turn our sights to preparing for a new president, a new Congress and a new set of local government officials," President Arroyo said in statement. The transition team’s job is to ensure a smooth transition of power to a new government. "I am putting our government at the disposal of the incoming leadership," she said in a speech during the 112th anniversary of the Philippine Navy. The outgoing Mrs. Arroyo was first installed as president in 2001, after then President Joseph Estrada was ousted by a people power revolt in the middle of Senate impeachment on charges of corruption. She was Estrada’s vice president. Mendoza and the team would work closely with representatives of the next president to ensure a peaceful, orderly and effective transition on June 30, said Mrs. Arroyo, whose presidency in the last nine years survived three congressional attempts to impeach her on charges of corruption. She said Mendoza is preparing the first draft of the transition team, claiming the next administration will inherit a nation with a strong momentum on a number of fronts including 37 consecutive quarters of economic growth. The military should give the incoming president the same support and cooperation they gave her, Mrs. Arroyo said in the statement. "We are committed to doing what is required during this transition to give the next team the support they need to keep our country moving forward," she said. As of 4:07 p.m. Tuesday, the GMANews.TV’s partial and unofficial count of votes in the country’s first automated elections showed Benigno Aquino III leading the presidential race with 13,036,271 votes, followed by his closest rival Estrada with 8,345,828 votes in a field of 10 candidates. The latest numbers from GMANews.TV’s election count reflection 84.90 percent of election returns. [See: Eleksyon 2010 Dashboard for the latest tally] In the vice presidential race, Estrada’s running mate Jejomar Binay was leading with 12,802,259 votes, with Aquino’s tandem Manuel Roxas II posting 11,949,985 votes in the same election count. There were eight vice presidential candidates in the May 10 polls. As of posting time the presidential hopefuls who have conceded the race to Aquino were Manuel Villar Jr., Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Richard Gordon, and John Carlos delos Reyes. Radio dzBB also reported that Eduardo C. Villanueva already did the same. In a separate press briefing Tuesday in Malacañang, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Rogelio Peyuan demanded a public apology from candidates and political parties that accused the Arroyo administration of secretly hatching a no election scenario to perpetuate her presidency beyond June 30.—VS, GMANews.TV