definitely by now, almost lahat na may sinabi about Madame President Gloria and her fate, as well as the fate of the country for the coming months.
let me remind everyone na July 25 ang State of the Nation Address ni Gloria, so mga two Mondays from now, and anything can still happen in those two weeks. who knows, malay natin matuloy pala ang filing ng impeachment case before SONA, and though i’m not sure sa procedure, baka magsimula ang trial just before or after SONA.
nevertheless, GMA’s SONA for 2005 will be her most crucial. I’m sure that by now, she’s gathering her best spin doctors, speech writers and posture directors (yes posture director, maski walang such term, syempre dapat may mag-didirect ng kanyang pagtingin sa Congress, pagtayo’t pagtindig, pag-rise and fall ng kanyang boses, etc., just like the now-infamous "I’m sorry" speech two weeks ago) to execute her most important SONA. Syempre itong SONA na ito would be made to convince the public that she’s still the President and that she should not step down kasi nailatag na niya ang mga "seeds" ng kanyang economic reforms.
pero di ba, everyone naman can see except her supporters na napaka-flawed ng kanyang economic reforms. though di ako ekonomista, alam naman natin na never nakapag-paunlad ng isang bansa ang economic strategy na ibebenta mo ang natural resources mo at ang labor pool mo sa mga foreign investors and expect to earn from their profits na in the first place ay ire-repatriate din naman nila, while your strategic sectors such as agriculture, steel, energy and services ay nangangamote dahil sa kawalan ng suporta.
pero hindi talaga ito ang gusto kong pag-usapan. i’d like to share my opinion about whether or not PGMA should step down. to begin with, we should not associate PGMA with the country itself, hindi siya ang Inang Bayan. and secondly, we cannot simply let the issue of Hello Garci tapes pass by na parang walang nangyari. we all know now na nagkadayaan sa 2004 elections and PGMA has a major role in it, kaya walang karapatan ang sinuman na sabihin kalimutan na lang natin ang lahat and move on with our lives. i don’t believe ousting Gloria this way will set a precedent dahil hindi rin naman tanga ang Pilipino (siguro si Boy Abunda pwede pa, who said stupidly last Sunday sa The Buzz, na hindi ko talaga pinapanuod except pinilit ng ate ko na ilipat muna dun while i was trying to watch the World Pool Championship and the Malaysia Open badminton at the same time, na "I think she should stay" referring to PGMA na kinampanya ni Boy, with a gaze na parang never niyang narinig ang Hello Garci tapes).
kami sa IBON we believe that Arroyo should relinquish her position, not only in view of the Hello Garci tapes, but more importantly because her econ. reforms are basically anti-poor and foreign-dictated. She has proven to be a failed economist as we have said sa recent Birdtalk namin, and she should give way to a representative governing council na siyang magiging transitory body na mag-pu-push ng mga reforms na talagang maka-mamamayan at hindi tailored kina Danding, Ang, Tan, at Sy, at iba pa, at syempre hindi tailored kay Uncle Sam. Such council should be representative of the major sectors of society pero primarily by the people, especially grassroots, workers, entrepreneurs, women, and youth.
Although this may be a grand plan, it’s workable and the only way for genuine reforms to take place. Our country has been through a lot but we are still chained to various forms of oppression that we have no other choice, but to continue clamoring for genuine, pro-people change.
and one major step is to really pressure PGMA to step down.
