|
 MANILA, Philippines (AP) - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday used one of the most stable periods of her troubled tenure to tout her government's economic successes and promise the poor that they will benefit soon.
Making her seventh annual State of the Nation address as at least 3,000 protesters swarmed near the House of Representatives complex in suburban Quezon City, Arroyo told a joint session of Congress that she hopes the Philippines can join the ranks of wealthy nations in 20 years.
"By then, poverty shall have been marginalized, and the marginalized raised to a robust middle-class," she said.
|