EDITORIAL – On the road to maturity

Once again the economy took a beating from the continuing political crisis yesterday as Fitch and Standard & Poor’s downgraded the country’s credit rating from stable to negative. In reaction, the peso and share prices fell. The markets may stabilize in the coming weeks, but this will depend on the way the nation deals with the latest political storm.

There were signs yesterday that certain sectors were heeding the Catholic bishops’ call for giving constitutional processes and the rule of law a chance to work. Opposition congressmen said they were considering the bishops’ proposal to impeach President Arroyo. Some businessmen said they were giving the President the benefit of the doubt and would not press for her resignation at this time.

Truth and justice are bywords of the times, and national leaders must not disappoint the public. Even the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines can still change its mind on the President’s resignation if she shows reluctance to heed the clamor for truth, justice and reforms. This is going to be a slow, painful process, but we will never know if systems that are in place will work unless we try. Those who say that they cannot trust the system will turn their dire prognosis into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The next two weeks will be critical; Congress has not yet opened and cannot start the ball rolling on constitutional amendments that are likely to cut short the President’s term by several years. Neither can formal impeachment start until Congress opens. In the meantime, the nation should decide how best to ferret out the truth about the latest scandals and punish those found guilty of corruption, illegal wiretapping, poll fraud and betrayal of public trust. Lawmakers must move to overhaul the Commission on Elections, and decide if the poll body is fit to handle the elections next month in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

All this may be too slow for a nation used to instant gratification when it comes to regime change. But it’s a long way from February 1986, and present circumstances are different even from those in January 2001. It’s time to show the world that this democracy is on its way to maturity.