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Many of the key players on the different sides of the political
crisis engulfing our Republic have shown a great deal of wisdom.
Some have also been both wise and shrewd.
In the Senate
The senators who are frontrunners in the 2010
presidential are wisely and astutely saying they will not join the
call for President Arroyo to resign. To do that would be to prejudge
Mrs. Arroyo about her involvement—or acquiescence in and inaction
on—alleged corrupt dealings. If ever she is impeached by the House
(a very remote possibility because the vast majority there are her
allies), the Senate will become the impeachment court presided over
by the Chief Justice. The senators will turn into judges and become
honor-bound to judge Mrs. Arroyo according to the best standards of
judicial practice.
It is also politically shrewd for Senators Manny
Villar, Loren Legarda, and Mar Roxas to make the right amount of
anti-administration noises and yet help pull back the oust-Arroyo
movement from reaching the tipping point. GMA’s ouster by people
power—if played by constitutional rules to the end—will mean
Vice-President Noli de Castro’s accession to the presidency. With
him being No. 1 in the surveys among all the visible aspirants in
2010, the added power of being an incumbent candidate will make him
the sure winner.
It’s going to be worse for the presidential
hopes of the wannabes if a military-police junta takes over. Sen.
Ping Lacson seems to be the only one who wants to see Mrs. Arroyo
drummed out by people-power action—supported by PNP and AFP
withdrawal of support and encouraged by Filipino-Chinese businessmen
who want a more business-friendly, anti-crime and pro-discipline
dispensation.
Like a sage, Sen. Richard Gordon reminded those
dreaming of a snap election in the event President Arroyo is ousted
that it is not allowed under the 1987 Constitution. He added that
even if the Constitution were swiftly amended, it would still not be
lawful for a snap election to resolve the presidential vacancy
because—unless the legal decencies are set aside—laws are
normally “prospective, never retroactive.”
In Manila
Mayor Alfredo Lim, who shows humility by
forbidding those who address him not to call him “honorable,”
has wisely declared that he is still sticking to his
election-campaign promise to make sure President Arroyo finishes her
term by guaranteeing the security of Malacañang Palace. Therefore,
he will not join those who want to oust her.
He won’t even—at least not yet—add his
voice to those of his former bosses, Presidents Cory Aquino and
Joseph Estrada, who are calling on President Arroyo to resign. But
he will continue joining them on stage in prayer rallies.
“I will wait for the result of the
Senate investigation on the scuttled ZTE-NBN broadband deal,” said
the mayor of the nation’s capital city.
Most of the citizens of Manila are as wise and
reflective as their mayor.
The latest Pulse Asia opinion-poll result
reveals that 69 percent of the population of Manila supports
anti-Arroyo-administration protests but only 16 percent of them will
bother joining rallies.
The survey respondents were asked why they
didn’t like to demonstrate their disapproval of President Arroyo
and 26 percent replied they had more important things to do.
In the VP’s office
Wisdom also vibrated from Vice-President Noli de
Castro who told media interlocutors that “from Day One he had
always been prepared” to assume the presidency but that, in
today’s turmoil, he is not preparing to replace President Arroyo.
He declared himself to be as eager as the others “in the search of
the truth about the controversies” besetting the nation.
Vice-President de Castro stressed the
distinction between “preparing for” (naghahanda) and “being
prepared or ready” (handa), in his DZMM “Para sa Bayan” radio
program. He also said, “And I know my role as vice-president under
the Constitution [At alam ko ‘yong aking tungkulin sa ilalim ng
ating Saligang Batas.]”
In La Salle
The group of some 90 former top government
officials and cabinet members who have called on President Arroyo to
act decisively against corruption and corrupt officials have not
joined calls for her resignation or ouster.
Their message is a call for truth and reform.
They are calling on officials of the Arroyo administration who know
anything about anomalies and corrupt transactions to speak out
boldly.
They have given the President an ultimatum: Heed
their call for reform and act against corruption or they will
solidly seek her resignation or even ouster.
Wisely, too, they are for the Constitution to
have its way in the event of a vacancy. They have offered to help
Vice-President de Castro “be a good president,” former Tourism
secretary Narzalina Lim told abscbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
The La Salle group of former cabinet members and
other high officials have also wisely declared themselves to be
against martial law or any kind of military-backed junta—whether
foisted on the nation by pro-Arroyo forces or the opposition.
In Malacañang
The President and her economic team are doing
their best to keep undistracted by the political turmoil. They are
doing what is necessary to maintain the economic growth momentum our
country has enjoyed these past six years.
There’s every reason to hope that our people
will emerge wiser, the Republic stronger and more stable, when this
political crisis is over.
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