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Gloria resign?

I have to make some corrections in my column last issue which stated the reasons for the February 2003 strike of the Lepanto Employees Union of the LCMC becoming a historic event. It should have read as follows: “second, they defied the Assumption of Jurisdiction order issued by a DOLE Undersecretary (Manuel Imson) under Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas.” My last column mentioned that the order was issued by then Undersecretary Sto. Tomas. My apologies to Sto. Tomas who has never been appointed DOLEundersecretary. She was appointed as DOLE Secretary by GMA. Mistake was committed in the editing process.

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There are many quarters in our society calling for the resignation of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. There are several reasons raised but it can be narrowed down to the questionable 2004 elections and her capability to rule the country.

The latest election issue brought out was the CDs that identified the areas in the country where the alleged frauds were committed. The areas jibe with the allegations by the opposition. Some may entertain the idea that the act was a handy work therefore of the opposition.

Processes allowed by the Constitution can probe the issue – through impeachment, as the act is impeachable.

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There are at least two reasons, however, for the weaknesses of our impeachment process. First, the Senators, who would act as the justices, act more as politicians rather than unbiased justices. They vote more because of their political affiliation rather than the dictate of reason and the appreciation of facts and evidence, as what happened during the impeachment of then President Joseph Estrada. Tyranny of numbers, based on party affiliation, is the rule of the game. With the present numbers of administration senators in the senate, GMA would easily get favorable ruling by an impeachment court.

Another weakness is that the impeachment procedures are bound by technicalities. It is, in fact, even centered on the impeachment court actors: the Chief Justice as the head, the Senator as justices, the lawyers of the one impeached, and the witnesses. Participation by the broad masses is very limited.

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There is another system where the people’s role is paramount. The people should again exercise their sovereign power to remove a leader who failed to serve their interests, as what actually happened during the People Power I that ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos from the presidency, and the People Power II that unseated Estrada from the same office.

Can the people against GMA adopt the same system? As mentioned above, capability to rule is one of the issues. If an elected leader fails to render services and instead continue to serve policies and programs beneficial to foreign interests, it is a question of a leader’s capability to rule. Such can justify the ouster of an unfit leader.

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Back to the leadership of GMA, some claim that that she is a capable and qualified leader. Her field of specialty is economics. Hence, she can save the country from the grave economic crises that it is presently experiencing.

But government data and reality disproved that GMA is an economist that will uplift the people’s situation. Our debt grows yearly. In fact, almost half of our yearly budget is channeled for debt servicing. Our budget for social services gets lower share every year. These are government data that speak for themselves. So where is the economic development promised by an economist president?

Reality also shows that almost 80 percent of the 83 million Filipinos are living below the poverty line. Goods prices are skyrocketing while the income and wages stagnated for a long while. On the other hand, if increased anyway, it is just a token move to appease the protesting masses.

In fact, the effect of the increases of oil prices made the peoples’ income insufficient to buy their needs. The worst oil price increases came under GMA’s presidency.

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Coup d’etat is another means of changing the administration. This is done through the grabbing of the political power by the military. Coup d’etat however is proven not effective.

Still, the deciding factor overthrowing an unfit leader is the support of the broad Filipino masses. This has been historically proven by the two People Power.

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With the present reality, the people would always entertain alternative ways that could improve their lives.

Will they entertain the call for GMAs resignation or ouster? #

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