At a news conference, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said she tendered her resignation to President Benigno Aquino III on Friday morning, effective on May 6, in the interest of the nation and her own family, insisting the charges against her were “baseless.” Her term ends next year.

“As a government official, I must place first the foremost the interest of the nation, the interest of my office, and as a wife and as mother, my family,” Gutierrez said at a news conference, adding she has remained loyal to the constitution and never to any politician.

“By tendering my resignation, I hope we can now all focus on the problems of our people rather than spending so much time, efforts and resources to remove me from public office.”

Aquino has pushed for her ouster, saying on various occasions that Gutierrez was an obstacle to his anti-corruption campaign.

Aquino said he was happy and thankful that Gutierrez stepped down, saying it would spare the country of a lengthy impeachment trial and allow Congress to deal with at least 20 priority bills to lift the economy and improve the lives of the people.

He said he told Gutierrez that “this fight is not personal” and that he made a promise when he assumed office last year to punish those who commit crimes against the people.

The president’s office released a picture of Gutierrez smiling as she signed her resignation letter in front of Aquino, who also was smiling. In her letter, she said that as a plain citizen, she “will continue working for good governance.”

The House of Representatives dominated by Aquino’s allies impeached Gutierrez last month based on complaints by several left-wing activists that she betrayed public trust and failed to investigate Arroyo, her husband and military and government officials suspected of corruption. Arroyo appointed her in 2005 after serving twice as justice secretary.

Arroyo and some members of her family had been accused of profiting from some government contracts, including a $329 million broadband deal with China’s ZTE Corp. in 2007.

Arroyo, who was president for nine years until June 2010, the longest term in power of any leader since democracy was restored in 1986, had denied any wrongdoing.

Plunder complaints were filed against Arroyo with the Justice Department earlier this week by former Solicitor General Frank Chavez, who accused her of diverting 530 million pesos ($12.3 million) from a trust fund for overseas Filipino workers to boost her 2004 election campaign.

The Justice Department is still reviewing a previous plunder complaint that Arroyo ordered the sale of prime government property to a private developer but did not remit 72 million ($1.7 million) in capital gains tax.

Gutierrez said she had prepared to prove the “falsity of the charges” against her at the Senate impeachment trial set to start in May, but decided instead to resign out of concern for the welfare of her family and the nation.

“The problems besetting our country demand a full-time Ombudsman and a full-time Congress,” she said. “At a time when the present administration is in its infancy and beset with more urgent problems, the last thing that the nation needs is for the House and the Senate to be embroiled in a long drawn-out impeachment proceeding against a single public official.”

Government officials and lawmakers welcomed Gutierrez’s decision, saying the impeachment process was not only highly division but would distract from their efforts to address rising inflation and unemployment and measures to fuel growth.

“It’s a welcome development, we can now proceed with other important and urgent legislation,” Feliciano Belmonte, speaker of the lower house and a close ally of the president, said.

Rep. Teddy Casino of the left-wing party Bayan Muna, which was among those who filed charges against Gutierrez, said that she not only showed “inexcusable neglect” in investigating charges against Arroyo administration officials but that she also sabotaged cases against the former president.

“This is one step forward in efforts at holding the previous administration officials for their acts of corruption,” he told The Associated Press.

“Thank you Merci for sparing us the long and arduous impeachment process,” said another Aquino ally, Senator Francis Pangilinan. “But, this is just one small step in the fight against corruption. We must not stop here.”

Some opposition lawmakers criticized Guiterrez’s decision to quit. “A resignation in the face of an impending impeachment trial, albeit shakily anchored, is not an honorable exit as it is an admission of culpability,” Congressman Edcel Lagman said.