GMA’s bold plans eagerly awaited

Late last week, President GMA told her regular press conference that she plans to issue a number of bold measures that would reverse the tide of negative economic news. I could almost hear the business community heaving a collective sigh... "it’s about time."

President GMA may be a workaholic who has lost some 20 pounds since she took office but for some reason, people are getting a little tired waiting for things to happen. You know... like reforms... hints of good governance and, of course, signs that she can handle the peace and order problems. Only Raul Roco seems to be delivering on the promise of good governance by fighting corruption at DECS.

Early last week, some senior economists identified with civil society made a chilling assessment they called a "yellow paper." The potential for change made possible by EDSA Dos, they observed, is close to being squandered. Last week, ANC’s stock market coverage posed a question to their viewers about the current performance of the GMA administration and 80 percent of the responses indicated disappointment.

On the other hand, Pulse Asia released the results of its latest survey and it showed GMA’s approval rating on the uptrend, even if it isn’t quite equal to her high point shortly after EDSA 2. Personally, I think it is a little too early to pass judgment on GMA, given the distractions provided by the May election and the Abu Sayyaf Dos Palmas kidnapping that followed.

Then again, no one ever said the presidency of this country was Easy Street. It is a terribly thankless job given the lack of resources and the fractious citizenry that has lost their sense of nationhood so essential to move on. When GMA became president, I thought we were lucky to have someone who has a good grasp of our economic and social development problems.

But re-election is another thing. Given the nature of our political environment, I am afraid that after three years on the job, her chances to be elected President in her own right in 2004 would be less than even. The seriousness and enormity of our problems defy solutions that can be realized in three years. An impatient electorate will be unforgiving, ready to give another one his or her chance at the bat.

I guess given her political astuteness, she is aware of all these. Maybe this is why this early, she appears to hesitate to act decisively. It is easy to assume, rightly or wrongly, that she is now considering the implications of 2004 in every decision she makes (or fails to make).

No wonder her EDSA 2 supporters are starting to get disappointed. People get the feeling we are going nowhere, or worse, back to square one, as on that fateful day in January. Her jeep is stalled, just as Erap’s jeep once was.

I imagine this is why her colleagues in the dismal science of economics, have expressed disappointment in her leadership over the past five months. The Yellow Paper used pretty heavy language to express a sense of concern. In saying they are worried about the gains of EDSA 2 being squandered, they are effectively saying she has metamorphosed into an old-style politician.

I still don’t share that view. I think GMA has her heart in the right place. I still don’t get the feeling that she has deviated significantly from her pronouncements after she took her oath at EDSA. But if indeed there is this shift, it is probably because she is getting advice from someone with a very traditional orientation of politics from among her inner circle.

But even then, I can understand the strong push someone in her position would feel about the need to be realistic about our political environment. She needs that kind of savvy anyway to survive the next three years. The idealism of EDSA 2 aside, the last election showed that civil society cannot elect their nominees for the Senate. Good intentions and a clean heart are so totally inadequate to succeed in our country’s political arena.

On the other hand, if GMA gets fixated on 2004 as her economist friends fear, she is likely to stumble and fail to get her goal of being a good President. Being a good President entails making tough decisions that may alienate voters and even political allies.

She can take a leaf from the Good Book. There is a warning there by no less than Jesus Christ that those who love life so much will lose it and those who are ready to lose it for the Lord’s sake will gain it.

I guess, that applies to 2004 too. Those who are too focused on 2004 (that includes the other hopefuls too from Raul Roco to Frank Drilon and Loren Legarda) may end up losing it. While those who couldn’t care less about 2004 and just work and make good but unpopular decisions because it is their duty and their desire to serve the public, may be rewarded in 2004 as well.

My gut feel tells me GMA is better off forgetting 2004 and just focusing on being a good President. In any case, it is her job to produce the miracles in the economy and to also tame the budget deficit. Without these miracles, 2004 could be beyond her reach. Nothing else, not even the trapo things, will bring her victory in 2004 if the economy is still a mess. Filipinos have become more jaded and less tolerant of their politicians in power. We are tried of waiting.

It is a tough time to be President of this Republic. But for our own sakes, we just have to help her get everything in order. Even Erap is saying that. If only Crispin Remulla will listen.

Sexual equality

A journalist had done a story on gender roles in a Middle East country several years before the Gulf War, and she noted then that women customarily walked about 10 feet behind their husbands.

She returned to the country recently and observed that the men now walked several yards behind their wives.

She approached one of the women for an explanation. "This is marvelous," said the journalist. "What enabled women here to achieve this reversal of roles?"

Replied the Middle Eastern woman: "Land mines"

(Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected])