Philippine President will stay at post

The Philippine government on Thursday urged the opposition to accept defeat after the House of Representatives Committee on Justice voted to reject all three impeachment complaints filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The opposition turned to streets protests and text messages Tuesday to keep their bid to unseat her alive.

A Congress committee dominated by Arroyo's allies and boycotted by the opposition rejected impeachment complaints against her on Wednesday, leaving the opposition clinging to slim hopes of winning a vote in the lower house of Congress next week, Reuters says.

On behalf of Arroyo, press secretary Ignacio Bunye told the press that lawmakers supporting Arroyo won the vote while the opposition congressmen failed to get the 79 endorsement signatures legally needed to transmit the impeachment complaint to the senate.

"Seventy-nine votes is (a) pipe dream. We expect the opposition to show some statesmanship as expected of honorable representatives," Bunye was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

"The president's detractors should know when to throw in the towel so that we can already get on with the real business of the people," Bunye added.

The House of Representatives justice committee voted on Wednesday night to dismiss the impeachment complaints against Arroyo, including the strongest one that accused her of three major crimes, including betrayal of the public trust.

The opposition boycotted the voting process, which the Arroyo administration said was "fair, free and transparent."