BY ASHZEL HACHERO

FORMER Cabinet members from the Marcos to the current administrations yesterday called on members of the Arroyo Cabinet to re-think whether they still want to serve the President, who they said is at the center of corruption and cover-up of the $329-million broadband deal with China's ZTE Corp.

In a press conference at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, the group, which now calls itself Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO), said they have lost their trust and confidence in Arroyo's capability to govern and to stamp out graft and corruption. But they stopped short of asking her to resign.

"We question not only her moral authority to govern, but also her ability to govern given the mounting garbage of lies and obfuscation that she is constrained to build to cover up the increasing stench of corruption in her administration," said the group's statement read by former Civil Service Commission chair Karina David.

The membership of the group has increased to more than 90 since they came out in public last month to denounce corruption in the government.

Among the members are Arroyo's Cabinet members dubbed "Hyatt 10" who resigned at the height of the "Hello Garci" scandal in 2005.

The FSGO said the President's refusal to serve the people's demand for truth in the NBN-ZTE controversy is emblematic of the government's reaction to past scandals that included the P729 million fertilizer scam and the "Hello Garci" tapes scandal.

"She (President Arroyo) must act to help bring out the full truth about this deal if her hands are truly clean. The Arroyo presidency must shelter the truth or it will be judged as a fortress for lies," the FSGO said.

The group lamented the way "the President's spokespersons were summarily dismissing these demands. Later her advisers even criticized and threatened us for making these demands."

The group said that although the President has scrapped Executive Order 464, the revocation "does not serve the truth if acting Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri continues to invoke executive privilege and does not testify."

They also said that contrary to the spirit of transparency that the administration says it wants in all public transactions, "all records of the NBN-ZTE project have still not been submitted to the Senate."

In the statement, they enumerated past scandals that hit the Arroyo administration including the "fertilizer scam," "election cheating," and "shopping bags of cash in Malacanang."

"The NBN-ZTE scandal is just the latest monster in a larger pile of garbage from previous scandals," they said.

David said calling for Arroyo's resignation is not the only option. The best thing is educate first the people especially on the democratic processes.

'I think we should look beyond calling for resignation," said David stressing that their statement is a much stronger indictment of the administration than calling for Arroyo's resignation alone.

Former Trade minister Vicente Paterno said the President's resignation should also be accompanied by the resignation of all corrupt officials in the government. He said if only the head is "cut" off, the roots of corruption will thrive under a different system.

Others present in the press conference were former NEDA director general Cielito Habito, former BSP governor Jose Cuisia Jr., former anti-poverty chair Imelda Nicolas, former presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles, former anti-poverty chair Marietta Goco, former Trade secretary Narzalina Lim, former press secretary Rod Reyes, former political affairs adviser Lito Banayo, former Education undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz, former Budget secretary Cesar Purisima, former National Statistics Office administrator Tomas Africa, former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, former DOT undersecretary Sostenes Campillo, former PDIC president Norberto Nazareno, former DAR secretary Philip Ella Juico, former MIAA general manager Guillermo Cunanan, former PCGG commissioner Quintin Doromal, former Finance secretary Ernest Leung, former DAR undersecretary Conrado Navarro and Hector Soliman.

RUMOR MONGERS

Malacañang branded as "irresponsible and sweeping" statements by the FSGO group against the President.

"They should be the first to know that accusations are merely loose talks if not backed by sustained evidence. From respected government officials, now they have simply become rumor mongers," said deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo.