The new order took effect at midnight last night, removing emergency powers which had allowed the government to take drastic steps to quell an uprising.
Although the President admitted that there were still threats to national security, she asserted that the government has regained total control of the situation.
"Kilala na namin ang mga utak sa likod ng rebelyon. Sila ang nagpagalit at nag-udyok sa mga demonstrador para salakayin ang Malacañang noong Mayo 1 (We now know the brains behind the rebellion. They were those who provoked and instigated the demonstrators to attack Malacañang last May 1)," Mrs. Arroyo said in a five-page statement written in Filipino which she read on national television.
She said she respects the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to allow two of the suspected coup plotters to post bail for their temporary liberty. She was referring to opposition Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and former Ambassador Ernesto Maceda, who were arrested and charged with the capital offense of rebellion.
The case against Maceda was eventually downgraded to inciting to rebellion, which is bailable.
The President defended her declaration of a state of rebellion as legal and within the ambit of the Constitution, saying it was an executive prerogative to enable her to protect the country and the people’s rights.
Mrs. Arroyo said that because of her order, the attempt to grab power was immediately quashed and the plotters arrested without resorting to violation of human rights.
"This is a proof of the stability of our Constitution and the pro-people views of the administration," she said.
The President recalled that the pro-Estrada rally at EDSA started peacefully, but was later joined by the apparent architects of the coup plot who goaded the mostly poor rallyists to storm the Palace and topple the government in order to install a civilian-military junta.
"At the start, we thought they were disunited and had no leader. But later on, the leaders and the brains behind the coup plot emerged," the Chief Executive said.
She said several of the rallyists were either drunk or under the influence of illegal drugs. A number of those who were arrested yielded home-made guns, knives, tear gas and wooden clubs.
Mrs. Arroyo also cited the police and the military for defending the Constitution and the democratic processes, and vowed to provide assistance to the families of the two policemen who were killed in the riots.
She vowed to do everything to restore peace and order in the country, ensure the conduct of peaceful and orderly elections on May 14, pursue the government’s peace initiatives with the rebel forces, speed up national progress, restore investor confidence in the economy and regain the respect of the international community.
"I have been your President for only 100 days. Give me some more time," she said.
The President called on Congress to pass meaningful laws, be the model for discipline and help in national development.
She urged the courts to enforce the laws, speed up judicial process and give more justice to poor litigants.
She appealed for strong cooperation between private business and the labor sector to enhance industrial peace for greater productivity.
Mrs. Arroyo also challenged the political opposition to fight the administration with principle and responsibility. "Do not object for the sake of objecting, but present alternatives so that the people will have a choice in a clean and legal manner," she said.
The President reiterated that the government is stable, with the military and the police solidly behind her leadership.
The declaration of a state of rebellion was largely perceived by the political opposition as a prelude to the imposition of martial law.
The declaration was made on Tuesday amid riots involving an estimated 50,000 mostly poor supporters of jailed deposed President Joseph Estrada who stormed Malacañang after holding a six-day vigil at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City in what they called "people power III."
At least four people died and some 100 were wounded in the violent dispersal of the rioters.
Government officials blamed key leaders of the political opposition for having worked up the pro-Estrada rallyists into storming the Palace in an attempt to topple the Arroyo administration, swept to power last January by a military and Church-backed popular uprising dubbed "people power II."
Estrada was ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan late last month in connection with graft and plunder charges leveled against him by government prosecutors. Under the law, plunder, considered a capital offense in the country, is non-bailable and punishable by death.
Rabid supporters of the disgraced leader who vainly tried to stop his arrest proceeded to the EDSA Shrine to stage their own version of people power meant to oust Arroyo and reinstall Estrada.
Government officials also charged that certain opposition leaders were behind a plot to assassinate both Mrs. Arroyo and Estrada to clear the way for the establishment of a civilian-military junta led by Enrile.
In another development, former Press Secretary Ricardo "Dong" Puno Jr. said there is an urgent need for a strong opposition in Congress following Mrs. Arroyo’s declaration of a state of rebellion in Metro Manila.
Puno, a senatorial candidate of the opposition Puwersa ng Masa-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, said the victory of the opposition candidates in the forthcoming elections will help ensure the protection of the constitutional rights and freedom of the people.
"The herding of hundreds of people without arrest warrants by policemen and soldiers was reminiscent of the Marcos-style sona, the warrantless arrest orders issued against opposition leaders and the curtailment of the freedom of peaceful assembly all the more emphasize why we need a strong opposition in both the Senate and the House (of Representatives)," Puno said.
He added that with effective fiscalizers, the administration will always be on its toes and would not be prone to committing abuses and graft and corruption. — With Efren Danao