Pimentel: Gloria tempting whirlwind of violence

By refusing to resign, President Arroyo herself is forcing the people to resort to extra-constitutional means to remove her from office, an opposition senator said yesterday.

Citing recent independent surveys showing a sharp decline in the trust rating of Mrs. Arroyo, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that the President is "turning deaf and blind to reality by refusing to step down in the face of the steadily growing number of individuals and organizations withdrawing their support from her."

And this includes "her own political allies and Cabinet members," Pimentel claimed.

"By refusing to resign while it is still possible, Gloria tempts the whirlwind of violence to engulf her and the nation itself. How sad!" he exclaimed.

Pimentel also disputed Malacanang’s claim that the President had already survived the worst of the political crisis that has hounded her administration for two months now.

Political analysts also described last Wednesday’s opposition rally at the financial district of Makati City — which drew an estimated crowd of 40,000 people — as "a failure" since it did not achieve its desired result: Mrs. Arroyo stepping down.

But Pimentel cautioned the Makati rally "was just the beginning" and more drastic actions could be expected in light of Mrs. Arroyo’s continued refusal to heed the calls for her resignation.

"The truth is more and more people are now aware of the President’s lack of moral ascendancy to run the country," Pimentel said.

He also criticized the President for using local government officials to try and rescue her from her "fast-sinking administration."

Pimentel said local executives are easily persuaded by the President to give their backing because of their dependence on the national government for financial support in the form of the Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA).

Pimentel was reacting to paid advertisements that came out in major daily newspapers expressing the continuing support of local government officials and organizations for the Arroyo administration.

According to Pimentel, Malacañang is manipulating local government officials and misrepresenting their sentiments by making it appear that they support the leadership of Mrs. Arroyo.

"It is obvious that she is now trying to use all the wiles and the resources of the government officials to put up a façade of support from local government officials, which everybody knows is just that — a façade without any substance — and will therefore simply create false hopes that she can continue hanging on to the trappings of power," Pimentel said.

He said that a growing number of governors, mayors and barangay chairmen have already lost their trust in the President, but could not come out in the open for fear of reprisals from Malacañang.

The senator also lashed out at the Mrs. Arroyo for saying that the opposition had offered no alternative programs of governance while she had called for fundamental changes in the form of government.

"Gloria indulges in self-deception by foisting the bogey of the alleged absence of a coherent platform for the development of the Philippines by those who oppose her as if only she has solid ideas for the good of the nation," Pimentel said.

As chairman of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), Pimentel said his party has a definite platform of government that promotes social and political aspects of the lives of all Filipinos.

He said the PDP-Laban platform is encapsulated in the acronym FREEDOM, "so that she and her evil schemers will understand it."

According to Pimentel, the letter "F" stands for federalism so that the 10 proposed federal states, including Bangsamoro Federal State, would be freed of the bias of Manila-based bureaucrats headed by her that stifle, rather than promote, national development.

Pimentel continued: "R" is for reforms in the bureaucracy so that we can entice the best people to join public service and weed out the corrupt and the incompetent; "E" is for education so that our youth will be prepared to compete with the best of the world for our country’s development; "E" is for the economy to be revamped so that the private sector, especially business, becomes the engine of growth for the national development; "D" is for the debt that needs to be managed so that we get our peso’s worth for what we borrow.

"O" is for overseas Filipino workers so that their views can be heard and they can be given a chance to participate directly in the management of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and other agencies of the government that deal with them; and "M" is for Mindanao so that peace can be restored to the island for its development and for the rest of the nation.