A key ally deserts Arroyo

With the country's second impeachment process under way five years after a similar move led to the ouster of Arroyo predecessor Joseph Estrada, Congress resumed a public inquiry over Arroyo calling an election official in last year's vote.

House of Representatives member Roilo Golez, Arroyo's former national security adviser, rocked his former boss by turning in his "irrevocable resignation" as head of the House defence committee, one of several congressional bodies holding the congressional probe.

The inquiry sprang from taped conversations in which a woman sounding like Arroyo appears to ask a man believed to be an elections commissioner to ensure she came out with a one million-vote margin in the May 2004 vote.

Golez, as head of the House defence committee, plays a key role in the inquiry and observers expect his departure to lead to the tapes being publicly aired.

"I am saddened by this parting of ways. My loyalty to the party ends, where my loyalty to the country begins," Golez told colleagues before the inquiry resumed.

Arroyo on Monday admitted she called an unnamed election official, but denied she cheated. At worst, it was a "lapse of judgment" on her part, she said.

The admission has triggered calls for the president to quit, with one congressman endorsing an impeachment complaint against her for "betraying public trust."

The armed forces meanwhile pledged its support to the embattled leader, vowing to remain "apolitical" despite public outrage over her apology.

"The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will remain loyal to the duly-constituted authority and to adhere to the chain of command," military chief General Efren Abu said.

The widow of Arroyo's defeated presidential rival Fernando Poe also on Wednesday joined calls for Arroyo to quit. Poe widow Susan Roces said she was prepared to lead street protests if the president tried to cling to power.