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Saturday, July 09, 2005
Editorials: Breaking apart
Despite efforts by President Arroyo and her supporters to downplay the irrevocable resignation of 10 members of her Cabinet and calls by former president Corazon Aquino and other groups for her to step down, there is that thinking that her rule has started to break apart.
Those who resigned were mostly members of the government’s economic team, and all of them have been identified with a segment of the so-called civil society that instigated Edsa 2 and catapulted the then vice president Arroyo to the presidency in 2001.
Meanwhile, those who added their voices to the growing calls for her to quit, like Aquino, the Makati Business Club and the Liberal Party, stuck to her until yesterday, when the situation seemed to have become more precarious.
While people power may not be sparked by the recent development as yet--despite attempts by the political opposition and militants to spark one by gathering in Makati—it is clear that the number of personalities and groups who have broken away from the President has grown.
This in turn strengthens the view that it is already impossible for her to do her job the proper way, meaning without the distraction that efforts to survive politically conjure.
It is interesting, then, to note what the President will do in the coming days, and whether her next moves won’t further fan the flames of uncertainty that has started to engulf the country.
The Arroyo administration is so far digging in, with the President coming out again on national television to insist she is not resigning and her minions hitting the motivation of the Cabinet members who resigned—or their supposed linking up with Vice President Noli de Castro, the beneficiary of an Arroyo resignation.
But digging in is no assurance that the tension will be defused. The greater danger is when disgruntled military and police officers will also gather the daring to launch a protest action of their own or worse a power grab attempt.
Still, the hope of many is that the conclusion of this latest crisis would be quick and peaceful and not protracted and violent.
FVR’s take
Former president Fidel V. Ramos has come out recently to suggest what he called a “graceful exit” for President Arroyo, one that wisely incorporated his pet proposal: charter change.
Ramos’ take is interesting in that he wants to push cha-cha into motion before Arroyo would let go, or possibly running again in an election under a new constitution.
The practicality of the former president’s proposal, though, will still be debated, but her presenting the proposal already proves one point: that even he already believes Arroyo should “cut and cut cleanly.”
(July 9, 2005 issue)
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