"Not just constitutional reforms," he stressed.

"The ‘Hyatt 10’ group said we must not let EDSA 1 and EDSA 2 happen again because there were no genuine reforms. We are just learning from history. With this true reform, there is true change and true hope," he added, referring to the group of 10 former Cabinet members who resigned their posts to protest alleged graft and corruption in the government.

Villanueva said if the country is going to have a special election, it would be an exercise for genuine democratic right. "It should be according to conscience, not according to manipulation," he said.

"If the government will show genuine repentance, it will be just then that the righteous opposition will believe in the government," he said.

During the prayer assembly, the Black and White Movement presented a reform agenda for the leader of a caretaker government recommended by the group.

Former Secretary Teresita "Ging" Deles, National Anti-Poverty Commission chairwoman, said the movement is calling for zero tolerance against graft and corruption, restoration of effective governance, and a pro-poor commitment by a new government.

The group also cited the need to restore fiscal health, keep the economic house in order, and lay the ground for sustained institutional political, economic, and social reforms.

On top of the reform agenda, Deles said, is the appointment of competent, trustworthy, and reformoriented personalities and sectoral leaders to key strategic agencies and departments in the government.

Deles stressed that the country needs to prepare for orderly, peaceful, and meaningful elections.

"Revamp the Commission on Elections and appoint honest, competent, non-partisan commissioners," she said.

Gordon urges

President to fire

CPR advisers

By EDMER F. PANESA

Administration Sen. Richard Gordon yesterday urged President Arroyo to fire her advisers responsible for the recent controversial policies that made her government more vulnerable to opposition attacks.

Gordon said Mrs. Arroyo should get rid of her advisers on the calibrated preemptive response (CPR) policy against opposition rallies, the Executive Order 464 on the ban on top government officials invited to testify in Senate investigations, and the nomass-for-the-opposition policy so that she could "start leading the country again."

"She is very ill-advised. She’s actually drawing more fire," Gordon told reporters in a chance interview after speaking at the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo media forum in Quezon City.

Gordon said he knows who these presidential advisers are, but he would rather not name them.

"Whoever these people advising her on political matters like CPR, EO 464, and the thing about the church, sinasangag at ginigisa lamang siya( she is fried in her own frying pan)," Gordon said, adding that these advisers are actually creating issues out of matters that they could just let go.

Gordon said the government’s policy against rallies and demonstrations does not hold water and the presidential directive banning Cabinet officials from appearing before congressional inquiries without prior permission from her was a mistake for they only worsened the Malacañang-Senate rift.

Gordon also assailed the prohibition on church gatherings for the opposition, saying the government has no right to "violate the freedom of worship and freedom of expression" of the people.

The administration solon said that with all these policies, he is now convinced that the president would do everything just to keep her hold on power.

"I look at Gloria as somebody on the ropes," he said.

He said that another problem he sees with Mrs. Arroyo is that she "appears to be afraid not only of people who are threats to her government but also to do what is right for the country.

Gordon said that instead of concentrating on her policies apparently meant to thwart destabilization efforts against her government, she should go after smugglers, tax evaders, and other criminals.

"The President is afraid to do anything. She is afraid that someone will go after her later," Gordon said.

He added: "She should focus on doing what is right, so she can do the country right. A leadership that is afraid cannot lead."

Pimentel urges

deeper probe

on DBM fire

Pimentel sought the inquiry despite the statement of Budget Secretary Romulo Neri that the documents on the P728-million fertilizer fund being investigated by the Senate are intact and that "no important documents" were destroyed in the 30-minute fire that destroyed the computer server room of the DBM on the building’s ground floor.

Noting that the DBM fire broke out a day after former DBM Secretary Emilia Boncodin, confined at the National Kidney Institute in Quezon City, expressed willingness to testify before the Senate committee on agriculture on the fertilizer fund scam, Pimentel said this easily fans suspicion about an attempt to cover up the anomaly and the allegation that the money was diverted to the 2004 election campaign of President Arroyo.

As this developed, the head of the Citizens’ Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA) team of lawyer-presentors said that " personalities from President Arroyo’s Cabinet are welcome to appear in the Congress’ proceedings this November."

"In fact, the Congress Presidium will most likely invite Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Michael Defensor because of his confidence and willingness to prove to the Citizens’ Congress that Mrs. Arroyo won in the 2004 elections. We can accommodate him and all those who shall be willing to come to the Citizens’ Congress, as official representatives, witnesses, or lawyers for Mrs. Arroyo," Atty. Romeo T. Capulong, CCTA head of the team of lawyer-presentors, said.

The first hearing is set Nov.8 at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

Meanwhile, Capulong defended the Citizen’s Congress which has been describeded by pro-Arroyo officials as "a mere media gimmick, a seditious, illegal, and unconstitutional undertaking that shall undermine the government."

"This is a serious project being undertaken within the framework of the Constitution," Capulong said.

"The mandate, authority, and legitimacy of the Citizen’s Congress are explicitly recognized under Article XIII Section15, that cites the ‘role of independent people’s organizations to pursue and protect, within the democratic framework, their legitimate and collective interests and aspirations through peaceful and lawful means.’

"But over and above this constitutional basis, the Citizens’ Congress has the highest moral authority that emanates from the powerful voices and accumulated grievances of the Filipino people crying for truth and justice. That is why Mrs. Arroyo and her officials should seriously consider the relevance and magnitude of the Citizens’ Congress."