BY REGINA BENGCO

PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday said she would step down only when her term ends in 2010, in accordance with the Constitution and her own wishes.

"In the Philippines, there is and there shall continue to be due process, rule of law, and utmost respect for the Constitution. This is my pledge as president and commander-in-chief," she said at the signing of the Civil Aviation Act.

She said the rule of law should prevail over politics.

"Pagtupad sa batas ang panata ng bawat pinunong halal at opisyal na hinirang. Ito ang aking gagawin, kahit hindi muna maunawaan ng marami lalo na kahit bigyan pa ng masamang kulay ng mga namumulitika... No one’s rights must be sacrificed just to spare government leaders from the ire of protesters and the fire of politicians," she said.

National security adviser Norberto Gonzales said "there is no stopping those who want to topple the government even if they know that they have no chance. Some people are living on illusions. Let’s just let them be."

Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said the political rallies and resignation calls against President Arroyo do not affect tourism because they continue to be "local news" and are not picked up in the international media.

Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol said the former Cabinet members who are calling on Arroyo’s Cabinet men to resign should stop because they had their chance and they were never pressured into resigning during their time.

Apostol said even students are getting tired of rallies, adding that students in Cebu spurned Lozada and told him that they already "know the truth."

The senior government officials from the Marcos to the Arroyo administrations gave President Arroyo a week to follow through with her anti-corruption pronouncements.

Anthony Golez, deputy presidential spokesman, said: "The former Cabinet secretaries very well know that one can’t dictate to any president."

The officials demanded, among others, that Arroyo order acting Higher Education chair Romulo Neri to resume his testimony, without any restrictions or limitations, before the Senate which is investigating the national broadband network project that Arroyo cancelled last year amid allegations of payoffs and anomalies.

Golez said the Palace is awaiting the final decision of the Supreme Court on Neri’s petition regarding his attendance to the Senate probe.

On the demand to dismiss Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and assistant secretary Lorenzo Formoso, Golez said the issue is already being investigated by the Ombudsman.

He also said there was no kidnapping as claimed by Rodolfo Noel Lozada, the Senate’s key witness.

On the demand for Arroyo to order the release and delivery to the Senate of all public records pertaining to the NBN deal, he said government has submitted to the Senate all documents pertaining to the broadband project.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said the "ex-men" should give the High Court time to settle the issue.

Fajardo said the former officials should be "more circumspect" in calling for the suspension of some government executives.