Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Monday said her administration would not be hobbled by reactionary forces and what she described as political has-beens, who are out to foment social instability.

"I will deal with these destabilizers with an iron fist, even as I hold out an open hand and open mind for those who are open to a just and dignified reconciliation," Arroyo told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

She said reform, professional loyalty, honor, discipline and moral shall be sustained by an Armed Forces engaged in its share of sacrifices and acts of redemption, adding that "the spirit of change had been driven from within."

Arroyo said the court martial of Major General Carlos Garcia, a former Armed Forces comptroller now facing investigation for alleged unexplained wealth, will soon start as she has given instructions to Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Narciso Abaya to start it before he retires on Friday.

To cast the graft dragnet farther and wider in the military, Arroyo said the military Ombudsman's budget has been augmented, soit can hire 25 new lawyers, adding that an independent Internal Affairs Office has been created to look into the procurement and financial systems of the military, and to receive grievances and complaints directly from the soldiers.

Likewise, Arroyo said there would be no whitewash in the investigation and prosecution of anomalies in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Retirement Service and Benefits System and any other investigation for that matter, noting that the campaign against corruption is matched by more services and benefits to Filipino soldiers.

On the civilian side, Arroyo noted that she is transforming the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission into an effective institution similar to the Hongkong's Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Likewise, Arroyo said July's Filipino hostage crisis in Iraq demonstrates that the Philippines looks upon its allies as partners rather than masters, insisting that the Philippines and its allies have the same goals but they don't necessarily walk in the same road.

The hostage incident forced Arroyo to decide to pull out its humanitarian contingent from Iraq which was criticized by the United States and its other allies.

Source: Xinhua