Presidential renunciation

The announcement that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not be a candidate for election in 2004 is the best news for the new year.

It is a good decision no matter what the motives were that prompted it. If her motive was purely pragmatic – because she saw from the polls and other indications that she will probably not win – she deserves credit as a person of common sense who can discern the signs of the times. If, on the other hand, the decision was not for pragmatic reasons but from a realization that her only chance to be a good President is to give up all desire for a second term, then her decision not to run is an act of genuine statesmanship for which she deserves the highest credit.

There are less charitable suggestions that the real motive was to prevent (or preempt) further embarrassing disclosures of graft and corruption. We hope that the President’s decision was not made from such an ignoble motive. But whatever the motive, the decision not to run for election was a good decision. It gives the President a chance to be a good Chief Executive.

It is her only chance to really serve the country as a good President. Hitherto this has NOT been a good administration. One bad decision after another; one blunder after another; with growing suspicions of corruption even in high places. And the main reason for all these blunders may have been the overwhelming desire to win the election in 2004.

Take away that desire, and we have a chance for a really good administration. The President now has a chance to institute real reforms. She does not have to worry about popularity ratings. No amount of popularity can extend her tenure of office, and no amount of unpopularity can diminish it. She has two years in which to do something really constructive for the people.

Among the things she has to do, she has to get good advisers who will give her better advice than what she has apparently been getting; advisers with values higher than personal interests or political expediency.

Second, there are key positions in the government that must be filled by persons of known probity, untarnished reputation, and with the ability to handle affairs efficiently. One of these key positions is that of Secretary of Justice.

Third, the peoples’ money must be used wisely and honestly. All government funds are peoples’ money.

Among the most important of the people’s money are the pension funds – the GSIS and the SSS. They must be completely rehabilitated. They need better management that the kind they seem to have had in the recent past.

Also, something drastic must be done by reducing expenditures – not in health or education but in other less vital matters. A government run on a deficit of over 200 billion is a bankrupt government.

The President’s announcement that she is no longer a candidate does no erase her accountability or that of those around her. There have been very serious accusations. These must all be investigated thoroughly, and the President and those around her must give the people a satisfactory account for their actions.

For the rest, Madame President, good luck and God bless you. We are all behind you now.