The new complaint consolidates previous and new allegations of corruption and constitutional violations against Arroyo, said key complainant Jose de Venecia III.

Mrs Arroyo, who was swept to power in 2001 after then President Joseph Estrada was ousted by a nonviolent 'people power' revolt, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing in office. She won a six-year term in a regular presidential election in 2004.

Mrs Arroyo is the longest-serving Philippine head of state after dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was overthrown in 1986 after ruling the country for more than two decades.

Mr De Venecia and other complainants tried but failed to file the 97-page impeachment complaint on Saturday at the House of Representatives because its secretary-general, Marilyn Yap, who receives such complaints, had gone on a foreign trip.

The complaint will be filed on Monday when Ms Yap's replacement assumes office, said opposition lawyer Harry Roque, another complainant.

Presidential spokesman Jesus Dureza accused de Venecia of using the impeachment bid to bolster his plan to run for the Senate in 2010, and urged the public to ignore the new impeachment complaint.

Mrs Arroyo has survived three opposition impeachment attempts, which were dismissed on technicalities by her dominant House allies. At least one-third of the 240-member House would have to back a complaint to impeach Mrs Arroyo and send it to the opposition-dominated Senate for trial.

But the opposition controls only 28 House seats.

'If you look at the numbers, it's really an uphill battle,' said left-wing Rep. Teodoro Casino, who backed past impeachment attempts. 'But it's not just a complaint, it's a political statement, an exercise of our right to stand up against official wrongdoing.'

The new complaint includes allegations that Mrs Arroyo rigged the 2004 elections and that she failed to act on alleged corruption in a proposed telecommunications project involving the Chinese company ZTE Corp, according to Mr de Venecia, the son of a former House speaker and a losing bidder in the project.

There were also allegations that Mrs Arroyo's husband was promised a huge commission to back the deal.

Mrs Arroyo scrapped the deal last year. Her husband denied the allegations and ZTE has denied bribing any official. -- AP