‘Not the time to abandon GMA’

Following a Church warning to former allies of President Arroyo against staging an "artificially created people power" to oust her, she garnered yesterday strong but qualified support from an alliance of people’s and non-government organizations.

University of the Philippines professor Chito Gascon of the civil society alliance Kongreso ng Mama-mayang Pilipino (Kompil) said they may "sometimes" disagree with Mrs. Arroyo, "but this is not the time to abandon the President."

"This is the time to link up and to work, pursuing the political and social reforms that are still badly needed in the country," Gascon, a member of the Kompil secretariat, said.

Asked to read before Malacañang reporters a prepared statement of support for the President after the meeting, Gascon said, "We wish to clarify that Kompil has not withdrawn support for the government’s reform agenda, especially those that have to do with good governance, new politics, and social reforms. We will continue to constructively engage the government in order that solutions to the age-old problems of poverty can be worked out."

"We continue to have trust in the President. What’s important is that lines of communications are kept open," the statement said.

On the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA), Gascon said it is "one small organization" whose views should be heard, but it "should not rock the boat in terms of the whole politics and none of them are even elected officials."

The statement strongly suggested that Kompil is dissociating itself from COPA, whose secretary general Pastor "Boy" Saycon was labeled by the President as a "termite" destroying the "strong Republic" she was trying to build.

On Sunday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) threw its weight behind Mrs. Arroyo by declaring that there was no credible alternative to her leadership. The crucial endorsement came as surveys revealed her declining popularity.

In a statement issued last Sunday, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the CBCP, said, "Right now, it would seem to me that the best option for the country is for President Arroyo to finish her term and be allowed to succeed without nitpicking by the opposition and by some sectors of media, and without needless political infighting."

Quevedo said the Church would pursue its "critical solidarity" policy with Mrs. Arroyo.

The President’s popularity took a beating due to a spate of kidnappings-for-ransom and her promise to comply with onerous power supply contracts previous adminisrtations had signed with private power producers, which are being blamed for the high cost of electricity. Her public approval rating slipped to 42.6 percent last month, compared to 48 percent in March.

The Catholic Church wields great political influence despite the constitutionally mandated separation of Church and State. The Church played a significant role in February 1986 in toppling the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos via a peaceful people power revolt, and again in January 2001 when Joseph Estrada was ousted in a similar military-backed popular protest.

Anti-Estrada sentiments and dissent erupted in late 2000 following allegations that he pocketed millions of pesos in bribes from illegal gambling rackets, stole government funds and profited from insider trading. He is currently facing trial on charges of plunder, which carries the death penalty.

During the Malacañang dialogue which was an apparent attempt to stifle growing dissent from among the ranks of her former supporters, Mrs. Arroyo impressed upon Kompil leaders that as president, she has to make hard, unpopular or unacceptable decisions to her EDSA II allies such as them.

Mrs. Arroyo clearly told Kompil leaders that her decisions would be guided by dictates of national interest and not pressures from groups that disagree with her or from any quarters.

The President reassured Kompil leaders that communications lines are open between them to enable the sorting out of differences. She said she will not tolerate "histrionics" such as those displayed by Saycon.

Joining the President during the meeting were Cabinet members closely identified with civil society groups. The Kompil group of convenors was led by Victoria Garchitorena, a presidential consultant on poverty alleviation and good governance.

GMA addresses Ople issue

A government official present during the meeting told The STAR that Mrs. Arroyo addressed particular objections raised by Kompil against purported plans to appoint opposition Sen. Blas Ople as her new foreign affairs secretary to succeed Vice President Teofisto Guingona, who resigned over policy differences with the President.

The Palace official said that Kompil leaders were told that the issue of appointing Ople to the Department of Foreign Affairs "should be viewed in a larger perspective, higher than the DFA but at the Senate itself."

"Would you rather see the administration party at the Senate losing out to the likes of Senators Loi Estrada and Ping Lacson of the opposition?" the Palace source quoted the President as emphasizing.

The widely perceived imminent appointment of Ople, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, to the Cabinet has been linked by political analysts to efforts by the President to solve the Senate impasse brought about by the bolting of Sen. John Osmeña from the administration.

The President said both she and Ople have not made any "commitments" as far as the DFA post is concerned.

On the controversial Ople appointment to the Cabinet, Gascon said Kompil yields to the presidential prerogatives to name officials to the Cabinet. "This is something we will respect and we will acknowledge, and it will not be a basis to break ties with the government," he said.

"The President, as the leader of the country, should have prerogatives to make decisions on policy and programs as she sees fit. We in the civil society and other groups, even the opposition, have of course the obligation to speak out. If we disagree, then let’s accept it. But if we find common ground, then let’s do that," he said.

Gascon said that while their group raised the issue of Ople, they will not follow COPA’s critical stance against the administration. He said COPA was never a part of Kompil.

Conrado Limcaoco, presidential assistant for media and ecclesiastical affairs who was present at the Kompil meeting, said the statement by the President that communications lines should remain must not be misinterpreted as giving in to the demands of the opposition on how government should be run or who to appoint in public positions.

Limcaoco quoted the President as saying that she would "be accountable and decide under a strong Republic."

"This is different from her promise of consultations because part of a strong Republic is being open and consulting with all groups, not just civil society but also political groups," he said. "In the end, it is the President who will decide."

Limcaoco quashed speculations that the Kompil meeting yesterday at Malacañang was timed to prevent the organization from attending the COPA Mass at EDSA Shrine.

Also yesterday, Kompil leaders asked Mrs. Arroyo not to appoint supporters of Estrada to her inner circle, specifically former Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, his brother former Press Secretary Ricardo Puno, and former Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Jose Jaime Policarpio Jr.

"We were assured that the Estrada henchmen were not being recruited into government," Gascon said. "We can put the matter to rest even as we remain vigilant as certain quarters will continue their attempts to try to inflict these persons and others with the same probity on the public once again."

As for the impending vacancy at the Office of the Ombudsman, Gascon said the President informed then that it is out of Malacañang’s jurisdiction and that nominees must go through the screening process by the independent Judicial and Bar Council.

He said the civil society will nominate names to the council.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez strongly rejected Sen. Edgardo Angara’s portrayal of the country as being hopeless under the Arroyo government.

Golez said the military "has always sided with the Filipino people" and that it is "solidly behind the administration."

On Friday night, Angara said, "More and more Filipinos are getting poorer and becoming hopeless that they want to leave (the country) and seek jobs elsewhere." He added, "The Republic is in grave danger."– Marichu Villanueva