brucelee

written on April 2007 while doing nothing. For Filipinos only.





"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!"
-Sir Walter Scott


Tracing back from early civilizations up to the present, history has told us that when credibility is tarnished, the authority to govern dissipates. The current demise of Gloria Arroyo is an offshoot of her long history of wanton breach of the natural law of integrity and credibility. Integrity may differ in definition from one person to another: to soldiers, integrity is life; to an ordinary man, it is the source of his pride; to the rich, a mark of distinction yet to the leader, it is the spring of authority from which every policy to be implemented gets its approval from its constituents. When Gloria Arroyo empathetically announced last December 2003 that she will not participate in the 2004 Presidential election, many perceived it as a true mark of her sincere desire to improve the politics of this nation. However, Gloria Arroyo retracted her words and justified her hunger for power as a patriotic stance to save our country from “incoming” economic turmoil. Gloria Arroyo is like Anakin Skywalker in the episode, Revenge of the Sith, who justified his conversion to the Dark Side as a way to get the power that will save his wife from certain death, however, realizing later that his wife died because of his quest for power. The power that was supposed to protect his wife led to her death (or should I say, the grief of knowing that her husband is with the Dark Side took her desire to live). A tragedy of unequal proportion that is set to befall upon us. Gloria Arroyo sacrificed her integrity so she can get the power to assuage the country’s economic problems (as she claims it). She went even further and converted to the Dark Side by calling a commissioner of COMELEC to secure this power hoping that nobody will know how mischievous she had been. Yet, for all the covert acts she had done, it was brought to light by a wire tapper. The people had known, and like the wife of Anakin, the people felt gravely sorrowful and their wails have gone to the streets. Gloria made an apology to the public but she is not heard because the people’s listening ears, like Anakin’s wife, had already died. This is the reason why Gloria should resign. Her credibility is already lost. Like Darth Vader, she cannot rule anymore as her policies will always be treated with scrutiny, if not, with contempt. This realization is reflected in the position of the Makati Business Club, Cory Aquino, and Gloria Arroyo’s supposed trusted ten cabinet members who had just recently resigned and even called for her resignation. A survey by Pulse Asia had downgraded GMA from stable to very negative with a record 72 percent distrust rating, with 68 percent expressing disapproval of her performance. As a result, the Asian Development Bank has not scheduled any more releases of funds to the GMA government expressing fears it may not be able to pay. These are just some of the many effects of the Gloria gate scandal. Some people blame it on the destabilizing acts of rallies, yet, for whatever reasons there might be, everything will ultimately go back to Gloria’s tarnished reputation. The question of who will be Gloria Arroyo’s successor is also full of controversy. Noli De Castro is seen as unfit for the position because his reputation is a Siamese twin of Gloria Arroyo’s. Erap Estrada had already been judged to be inept and corrupt by EDSA 2. Loren Legarda has been known to be opportunistic and is perceived as a traditional politician. Senators and congressmen are even seen as political prostitutes. There is a crisis in leadership because the fundamental law of integrity had been breached by our politicians. There is distrust even among the opposition party members as every one of them is known to be political traitors. Ramos and De Venecia call for Charter Change claiming that the ails of this country will be healed by a change of the form of government forgetting the fact that a wolf in a sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. If the same corrupt congressmen who are incumbently sitting in the lower house will still be the one holding the parliamentary seats, then what good will the change of government bring? The vicious cycle of “political reforms” will continue and the real problems will again not be properly addressed. If we want the wolf not to attack us, we must change its behavior and tame it, definitely, not change its clothes. This country is in crises and all of these emanate from lack of integrity. Unless this is properly answered, our economy and polity will be in a lingering limbo and uncertainties.