EDITORIAL — Sowing seeds for 2010

As you may have noticed by now, and probably got disgusted already by it, the administration of President Arroyo seems to have embarked on a new political strategy of opening its doors to every politician who wants to come in from the cold.

The gesture, however, hides no Christian charity in its being. No matter how the administration euphemistically mislabels it as an attempt at reconciliation, it is nothing but political accommodation for political survival in its most shameless form.

But how is it for political survival when Arroyo is not up for election in the mid-term political exercise this May? The answer is simple. Though safe for now, Arroyo cannot guarantee her own safety by the time she steps down in 2010, that is if she even gets that far.

Thus, she is now sowing the seeds for her political survival after 2010. It is a long term investment for future political gain. With enemies all over just waiting for the opportune time to strike, Arroyo needs to be assured of ample protection when her immunity lapses.

And the only way to acquire future protection is to distribute political largesse now and hope that the beneficiaries of her " benevolence " will remember when she shall have become politically vulnerable as a lameduck president.

But even then, that is a huge gamble. Tessie Oreta, Tito Sotto and Imelda Marcos may be coming in from the cold now. But there is no saying what they will do once they have warmed up. There is no place like the Philippines for political surprises.

On the other hand, while Arroyo may succeed in coddling former enemies in order to add them to her coterie of friends, she will have to be especially caring of her present friends lest they feel slighted by the intrusions and become her enemies.

One thing you have to give Arroyo, though, is that she does her homework and learns her lessons. In her career, she made only one mistake - sticking her neck too early in 1998. Since then, she has become very politically adept. But then again, this is the Philippines.