Status quo will prevail

Status means "condition or position in regards to law" and status quo means "the existing state of affairs at a particular time." A church group has said that the Philippines now faces three possible futures – first, the continuation of the status quo; second, impeachment of the President; third and last, the voluntary resignation of the President. Actually, the impeachment filed against the President will not automatically change the status quo. It will only do so if she is found guilty. The only thing that the people can do is to wait for the results of impeachment. If she is not found guilty, then the status quo remains. The third alternative – PGMA’s voluntary resignation – will never happen. President Macapagal Arroyo will never resign as that will only put her in a position that will make it harder for her to defend herself.

We like the stand that Metro Manila Mayors, 500 pastors and 56,000 members of evangelical churches took after meeting at Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City. In a prepared statement, they said, "We want solutions to our crisis and there is only one that stares us in the face – the Constitution." To this, Manila Rep. Benny Abante added, "As Christians, we must be examples in upholding the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Let us reject demands for a revolutionary or caretaker government and other illegal and extra-constitutional means. Whatever is GMA’s decision, let us follow the legal process."

There are news reports that there are groups that are gathering people from the provinces to take to Metro Manila so they can demonstrate in the streets. We believe that all Metro Manila mayors owe it to their constituents not to give permits to demonstrate to groups that are not residents of their respective municipalities. There are places where outsiders can demonstrate like Malacañang, for example. But they will still require a permit to demonstrate from the Mayor of Manila.

The way we see it, the only legal way that those who oppose PGMA’s continuation in office can take is impeachment and there is already an impeachment charge. Let us await and abide by the results.

The real issue is: who won the last presidential elections? To date, we see no reason to doubt that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo won. Whether she won by a small or big margin is beside the point. We hope that in this present crisis, it is the Constitution that will prevail. There is another thing that makes all this talk about the last elections totally academic and that is the death of Fernando Poe Jr. It is only he that can truly question the results.

Let us defend the status quo. Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should finish her term.