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Friday, July 01, 2005
Mayors say another 'People Power' very remote
By Albert B. Lacanlale
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Mayors in the Province of Pampanga downplayed Thursday the possibility of another "People Power" to topple the Arroyo administration amid threats of oust-Arroyo protest rallies.
In a meeting, the Pampanga Mayors' League (PML) said gatherings organized by sectors against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lack the element of "spontaneity" which was present during the 1986 Edsa People Power and the 2001 "Edsa Dos".
"Social ordeals are born out of spontaneous mass actions and not just elicited by individuals who have self-vested interests," said Mabalacat Mayor Marino "Boking" Morales.
"The opposition, which has yet to solidify its moves, does not even represent the greater majority," he said.
The PML has expressed support to President Arroyo, who had been accused of rigging the May 2004 elections as allegedly implied in the wiretapped conversation between her and a Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner believed Virgilio Garcillano.
The group said the controversial "Gloria-gate tapes" have rocked the foundation of the administration and derailed the 10-point development agenda of the President.
"We support the leadership of our President so that the nation can move forward," the mayors said.
They claimed that the wiretapped conversation has no probative value from the beginning because it is violative of the privacy of communication guaranteed under Philippine laws.
Moreover, the mayors are firm that the taped conversation did not cast a "shadow of doubt" on the victory of the President in the May 2004 presidential elections.
"All reputable surveys and exit elections had her leading against her rivals by a comfortable margin, and were affirmed in the final outcome of the national canvassing by Congress, amid heated debates and arguments by the parties and counsels," they said.
Morales said the President, having garnered the votes of the Iglesia Ni Cristo members, is a sure winner in the last elections.
"No less than the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court dismissed the electoral protest of her rival and affirmed the President's victory," he said.
The mayors also lauded the President for her public apology last June 27, which, they said, is an act of statesmanship "because her humility to admit a wrong is an act of strength and does not show any moral perversity in her person and character."
They however asserted that the President did not commit an impeachable offense because the privileged private conversation being denounced by her detractors does not constitute a culpable violation of the Constitution, but a mere lapse in judgment.
(July 1, 2005 issue)
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