Arroyo Most Unpopular President?

Editorial, Sunday Post

      Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's refusal to reveal her plans in the 2010 elections is disconcerting, to put it mildly. This lead many people to suspect that something is cooking in the kitchen of the country's most unpopular President.

      The President's spokespersons say she has a right to her silence. Well, yes and no. It is true that silence is a right that any person can enjoy. No because the President is not just any other person.

      Her clear, unequivocal declaration on her 2010 plans is needed to calm fears stoked by her running dogs in Congress. Pained, betrayed and left holding the proverbial empty bag far too often, the last thing that we need is more of her.

      It could be that she is well aware of the fact that most Filipinos no longer trust her word. This is the reason why she would rather not make a categorical declaration since it would be taken with a grain of salt anyway.

      Or perhaps she has learned her lessons after being reminded again and again of how she broke her promise before a gathering to honor the national hero. If she makes no categorical declaration, there would be no promise to break.

      Regardless of her reasons however, the point is that Filipinos deserve to plan Weighed down by the difficulties brought about by the international economic meltdown and scandalized by the politics of payoffs and tradeoffs of the Arroyo administration, there is little doubt that they need a break.

      With the next election just a corner away, it all boils now to who deserves what. If Pres. Arroyo deserves her silence, the Filipinos also deserve their peace of mind. Insisting on what she believes is due her while disregarding what the rest of the nation deserves even more is the height of selfishness.

      The strange thing about this is that the President's habit seems to have infected her fellow conspirators in the monumental plunder of the country's coffers far more than the feared influenza A(H1N1) virus.

      While their mouths are shut, their body language betrays their intention to hold on to power. They don't have any qualms about insulting the intellect of the people perhaps because this has become the rule in their scheme of things.

      The best that Filipinos can say about Pres. Arroyo is that she has been the longest staying president after Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. His lengthy stay did not augur well with Filipinos. There is little indication it will augur well with her.

      If GMA failed to uplift the lives of Filipinos in her eight years as president, she won't be able to do that as prime minister. Eight years is too short for a good head of state. A good one she is not.