PAMPANGA, Philippines, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Philippines President Gloria Arroyo Saturday reversed her earlier decision and said she will seek re-election next May.
Addressing a big crowd of supporters in her home province of Pampanga, Arroyo said she had deferred her retirement to deal with the country's pressing problems, the BBC reported.
"I will run for president in the election of 2004. I will offer myself to the electorate in 2004," she said.
Her critics have said her initial decision to opt out was just a ruse to fend off opposition attacks.
Philippine law limits the president to only one six-year term, but Arroyo is not covered by this because she was not elected president.
As vice-president, she took the presidency in 2001 after her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was ousted in an uprising sparked by a corruption scandal.
Her support ratings have risen since a failed coup attempt in July -- but her poll figures have taken a battering because of corruption allegations against her husband, the BBC said.
