Uncertain times

Our country is rocked at present by so much political uncertainties. Administration and opposition continue to hurl labels and motives against each other. Media is caught in the middle, even blamed by some officials as having caused the political instability being experienced by our nation now.

PGMA continues to remain silent about the tapes. She refuses to dignify the issue and has taken a vow of silence about the tapes. She does not see the need to explain whether the voice caught on the controversial tapes is hers or not. She has declined the invitation of Congress to clarify this issue. She has decided not to explain anything about the tapes to the Filipino people.

The opposition continues to push her to explain. More and more sectors are urging the President to make her statement about the tapes. No one else can confirm the truth or the non-truth about the tapes except the President.

Rather than explain, however, this Administration has instead resorted to labeling all who insist on knowing the truth about the tapes as destabilizers. Agencies of this government have even gone to the extent of filing charges of sedition against those who have exposed or disseminated the so-called unauthorized tapes.

Observers have compared PGMA to USA's President Nixon and his watergate involvement, to former President Erap and his jueteng participation, and now, to President Marcos and his low public rating and even his declaration of Martial Law. Yes, by now, you must have also received texts and messages about the alleged, unverified information of martial law declaration supposedly by PGMA on or before June 21.

Traces of pre-martial law days did come to our mind when we saw the support groups rallying to the defense of the beleaguered PGMA. Charges of "hakot" crowds have been hurled against Marcos then, and against PGMA and her supporters now. Will martial law part 2 come to this country again?

Scenes of pre-Erap ouster seem to revisit us too. The jueteng exposé, the shifting of political alliances and positions now evident among many officials and business people. Will Cabinet resignation be not too far off? Will impeachment or resignation be the next political scenario?

Not only are times uncertain now politically. Our poor have long experienced the uncertainty of survival from one administration to the other. In the midst of this present political turmoil, once again, the poor are the most hurt.

Prices are unstable, the peso has devalued, investments are stalled, unemployment remains high, wages are frozen and remain low, the immediate welfare of the poor is the least concern of the wrangling political factions.

Fetuses have been thrown in various places, a brother kills another over dried fish, an impoverished family grieves over a young daughter who could have been saved by immediate health care which they could not afford. More and more, almost daily, the tragic stories about the effects of continuing economic uncertainty, of stark poverty continue to be sidelined by too much politics.

Uncertain times for politics, for the poor, for the nation. The more silent PGMA remains, the noisier the opposition becomes. The more silent PGMA remains, the more divided our nation becomes. Already, Pampanga, Cebu and other parts of the Visayas have challenged the anti-PGMA posture of Metro Manila. Expect more anti or pro-PGMA rallies in the coming days. Uncertain political periods do not last forever. The Marcos Regime ended after twenty more years, the Spanish Colonial Period, after close to 400 years. Elsewhere in the world, throughout history, no political regime reigned forever, no political turmoil lasted without being resolved.

More and more Filipinos expect the PGMA to break her sound of silence. The people want to hear the voice of a leader clarifying, banishing the roots of all these present political uncertainties. Will PGMA make the people wait forever? Will the Filipinos wait for PGMA forever?