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Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Malilong: Between Erap and Susan Roces
By Frank Malilong
The Other Side
President Arroyo should be grateful for people like Erap Estrada. She should be worried about Susan Roces.
If the vast majority has not warmly embraced the idea of letting go of Arroyo, it is because they are turned off by the prospect of Estrada restored to power along with the Marcoses and their leftist and rightist allies. Common sense says you`ll go for the lesser evil anytime.
I therefore cannot understand why Malacañang is in a hurry to reconcile with Estrada. The idea, reportedly proposed by El Shaddai supremo Mike Velarde, is plainly suicidal. It will benefit no one but Velarde himself, who is torn between his loyalty to Arroyo and his friendship with Estrada.
Instead of trying to win over the deposed president, Arroyo should provoke him to shoot himself in the foot the way he did when he made those irresponsible remarks in an interview with the South China Morning Post recently. His snide remarks about Arroyo leaving Malacañang in a stroller, as well as that about the room he specially prepared for her and a pony were a display of crass vulgarity.
Incarceration has not taught the man well enough.
Estrada’s insensitivity becomes even more pronounced when you compare it with the latest television appearance of the widow of his bosom friend. Roces was serenity personified in that interview she had on ANC. I know very little about Mrs. Fernando Poe Jr. but after watching the interview, I am sure she is more than just a pretty face. The lady has class.
It wasn’t a live interview, of course, and ANC could have done a lot of editing before showing it. But no amount of editing could have made up the serene image on the screen and the equally sober message she put across. No, she was not going to lead another Edsa uprising and yes, she was all for giving Arroyo a chance to defend herself.
Like another widow during the anti-Marcos struggle, Roces could be the unifying figure around whom the many sectors opposed to Arroyo can rally.
In fact, Susan and Cory Aquino share many things in common: they led private lives until the death of their respective husbands thrust them into the public eye; they are credible; and they are not known to harbor any personal agenda.
The only catch is that Mrs. Poe remains adamant about leading the opposition. She says they are all her friends and will help them if she is asked. But she made it clear she would rather that the rule of law be followed, a position that many in the opposition may find unacceptable.
Obviously, Roces believes that the institutions and processes created by the Constitution can still work to address the current leadership crisis. That should warn the administration not to derail these processes and drive Mrs. Poe into doing what she had said she was loathe to do. That would be a real tragedy.
(August 24, 2005 issue)
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