The Philippine presidential palace said Wednesday that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo intends to finish her six-year term until 2010 rather than stepping down next year in an "exit of grace".

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told a press conference that the statement by House Speaker Jose de Venecia that Arroyo had agreed to be a "transition president" was wrong.

De Venecia said Tuesday Arroyo favored a constituent assembly to fast-track constitutional reforms and move into a "fast-moving parliamentary system." But it could cut short Arroyo's term and make her a "transition president".

"I did not recall having heard from the President who was agreeable to shortening her term," Ermita said. "The matter of timeline was something to be discussed by the (ruling Lakas) party. Maybe it's just an interpretation of the speaker," he said.

Arroyo raised the idea of amending the Constitution last Thursday to facilitate a change from presidential to parliamentary form of government.

Arroyo reasoned that the "political system has degenerated to such an extent that it has been very difficult to live within the system with our hands totally untainted."

Ermita said legislators should have in mind the constitutionally mandated term of Arroyo when changing the Constitution.

"I would like to give it to our legislators to craft something that would somehow serve the interest of the sitting president and that would reconcile the purpose of the charter change, which is having a unicameral form of government," he said.

Arroyo Tuesday endorsed the proposal of 17 political parties for charter change through the constituent assembly.

Former president Fidel Ramos has suggested the House of Representatives and the Senate convene as a constituent assembly to craft amendments in the Constitution, before arranging a shift to parliamentary federal form of government and holding election of a new single-chamber parliament members in May next year.

Arroyo is expected to tackle this issue in her State of the Nation Address on July 25.

She is under unprecedented pressure from the opposition and some former political allies to resign over alleged election fraud and charges that her family received illegal gambling payoffs.

Source: Xinhua