Mixed message in Arroyo’s SONA

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Amando Doronila

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s ninth State of the Nation Address left the nation in tenterhooks last Monday, uncertain whether she is on the way out or seeking a way to prolong her stay in office beyond June 30 next year. The SONA signaled a mixed message that overshadowed its content of verifiable claims of economic accomplishments.

The report on the state of the economy was the SONA’s strongest suit, and it was the focus of the 56-minute speech. But the SONA glossed over the contentious issues of governance, involving the numerous corruption scandals that have rocked her administration, the extrajudicial killings of scores of leftist political activists, journalists and suspected drug addicts by death squads, the continuing insurgency by Muslim separatist guerrillas in Mindanao, and widespread poverty.

The speech disappointed civil society and political groups which demanded that she should use her last SONA to declare unqualifiedly that she is stepping down at the end of her constitutional term on June 30, 2010 in order to calm widespread public unease over her political intentions after she serves out her term. Instead, the President stoked public uncertainty with glib prevarications and double talk that indicated that she is not exiting but clinging tenaciously to office.

In a well-applauded segment of her speech, the President said: “At the end of this speech, I shall step down from this stage… but, not from the presidency.” She added emphatically, “My term does not end until next year. Until then, I will fight for the ordinary Filipino. The nation comes first. There is much to do as head of state—to the very last day.”

Stepping down after the closing bar of the SONA was not the clamor. The clamor is, “Quit on June 30, 2010. We have had enough of you.”

But she said, “A year is a long time. There are many perils that we must still guard against.” She did not say that the “many perils” might include the usurpation of power.

She did not touch the contentious issue of constitutional change that has stoked political unrest each time it is pushed by her congressional cohorts. All she said was, “I never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term.”

True, but this is dishonest. There were many voices who expressed this desire on her behalf as proxies. One of them was former Speaker Jose de Venecia, whom she lambasted in her speech by inference. De Venecia sponsored proposals to amend the Constitution to a shift to a parliamentary system, which could have given her the opening to run for member of parliament and from there stand for prime minister. She said, “The noisiest critics of constitutional reform tirelessly and shamelessly attempted Cha-cha when they thought they could take advantage of a shift in the form of government. Now that we feel they cannot benefit from it, they oppose it.”

Another surrogate is the incumbent Speaker Prospero Nograles, who has pushed a House resolution to convene Congress as a constituent assembly to consider amendments to the Constitution, citing the economic provisions standing in the way of economic development. Since 2005, the President has backed constitutional change using this economic theme, but never the hidden agenda of introducing amendments that include a shift to a parliamentary system.

The President has learned from experience that constitutional change is an inflammable issue and appears to heed public opinion surveys showing strong public resistance to Cha-cha at this time. She appears to have realized that it is prudent not to make pronouncements on Cha-cha unless she wants to plunge the country into bitter political turmoil in her remaining 10 months in office.

While denying she has ambitions to succeed herself, Ms Arroyo has not told her troops to stop pressing for constitutional change. Nograles paused in pushing Con-ass after the entire Senate issued a stern warning that the House risked a legislative civil war if the congressmen insisted on passing amendments without the Senate.

For now, the path for the Con-ass remains blocked, and the Palace must have read correctly that the cost of pressing Cha-cha could be devastating. This is the reason Ms Arroyo didn’t address Cha-cha this time. She has not stated categorically that she is stepping down in June next year. But Nograles has not given up the idea of testing the waters for a last bid on Con-ass.

It is misleading to say that the President has clarified the issue of her exit in 2010. There are a few who claim the issue was settled by SONA. Her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, is one of those few. He said, “Of course, It’s very clear. She’s stepping down after her term.” But Mike Arroyo is not noted for possessing cerebral clarity. What the public wants to hear is a presidential commitment coming from her own mouth. She can speak for herself.

Answering criticism about her alleged dictatorial tendencies, the President said that in the face of attempted coups, “I did not issue emergency proclamations. But I was able to resolve these military crises with ordinary powers of my office. My critics call it as dictatorship. I call it determination… We know it as strong government.”

The fact is that the emergency declaration in February 2007 crisis was in itself an exercise of extraordinary—not ordinary—powers of the presidency.

Ms Arroyo also asked her critics, “[D]o not tell us what we all know: that democracy can be threatened. Tell us what you will do when it is attacked.”

But what if democracy is attacked when she stages a coup on her government. Who will defend democracy from such an attack?

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