Makati rally a flop, says political analyst

Last Wednesday’s huge rally in Makati City calling on President Arroyo to step down was a huge failure, a political analyst said yesterday.

Professor Benito Lim said the rally only exposed the degree of disunity within the United Opposition (UNO), which organized the event, and how its members disagreed on what should be done if they succeeded in unseating Mrs. Arroyo, who has rebuffed calls to step down.

"Instead of helping them advance their cause, the rally exposed that the political opposition is still far from being united," Lim, a senior professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City said.

Lim said even the participation of actress Susan Roces, the widow of the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., at the event failed to inspire the protesters because she was visibly nervous while delivering her short speech.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño described Roces’ speech as "lacking in fire and inspiration."

Lim pointed out that Roces did not even call for the President’s resignation, but instead rallied for a peaceful solution to the political problems besetting the country.

She instead told those attending the rally to obey the 10 commandments in the Holy Bible and take the words of the "Panatang Makabayan" (Pledge of Allegiance) to heart.

Lim said the rally, which police estimated to number 35,000 protesters, failed to create a lasting impression and send a political message strong enough to make the President rethink her stand.

"The political exercise failed to ignite the needed fire and excitement to spark the interest of the people other than those belonging to the anti-administration camps," he said.

The rally’s outcome, according to Lim, failed to meet the expectations even of those who organized the event. Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay had believed it would launch a series of daily demonstrations. But the following day, no rally materialized.

Lim stressed that the rally lacked the support of the middle class, whose members preferred to watch and observe from the sidelines "while carefully weighing their options before making a clear, definitive stand on the issue."

He noted that judging from the personalities who joined the rally, it appeared that while the protesters all wanted the President to resign, they did not offer a common agenda on how they intended to lead the country if she did, indeed, step down.