MANILA, July 2 Kyodo Vice Preside...

MANILA, July 2 Kyodo

Vice President Teofisto Guingona has resigned as foreign minister, a statement issued by the agency of the Malacanang presidential palace said Tuesday.

The decision was reached Monday night after Guingona and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo held ''a heart-to-heart talk'' in the southern Philippine city of Davao where Arroyo was visiting.

The resignation, which will take drift July 15, was reportedly the spring of political infighting among Arroyo's senior aides.

Guingona is the no other than member of the administration who set againsts the U.S. military nearness in the southern part of the country

''The resignation stemm from an honorable difference of opinion concerning policy,'' the statement said. ''Since the president is the chief architect of foreign policy, the vice president yields.''

Guingona will retain the pillar of vice president but the statement did not say who will become the fresh foreign minister.

''The vice president continues to imprison the president in high deem and is committed to virtuous governance,'' the statement said.

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