There was not a hint two weeks ago at a small dinner in Malacañang that she was besieged with problems. The dinner was one of many small gatherings of columnists and editors invited for an informal chat with the President; on the night I was included in the guest list (my second, modesty aside), we had salad greens, lamb in thick tomato gravy, chocolate mousse and wine. A simple fare it was but painstakingly prepared by the kitchen staff, far different from the midnight bacchanalian sprees hosted by the previous occupant of the palace by Pasig River. President Macapagal-Arroyo was dressed casually, in a black pantsuit topped by a red vest, shorn with make-up, as opposed to the columnists who had come in formal dark suits and new haircuts.
The President’s husband, Mike, was at one end of the long table, and the President sat in the middle, flanked by two veteran columnists. She held fort like a veteran herself, rattling figures and statistics, quickly brushing off an opinion survey that said 19 percent of respondents wanted to leave the country, with, "That means 81 percent still want to stay."
She said two of her priorities remained the same – reducing the power rate, and keeping peace and order, which meant stopping kidnapping and drug trafficking. Those issues have been, and are, raised against her by the opposition and civil groups disgruntled with the way she’s running the affairs of the state.
The only topic she did not want to discuss was the supposed resignation of then Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. "I do not want to discuss Guingona for his own sake," she simply said. But the smile on her face had vanished, and she lifted a goblet to her mouth.
Someone asked her how she manages to keep up with her hectic schedule; a question asked by many who marvel at her energy, going from one place to another, shaking hands, addressing crowds, flying by chopper to remote and known places, decorating soldiers, greeting the sick and wounded, accepting courtesy calls of the high and mighty of foreign lands.
Her schedule is simple, she said. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., she meets her engagements, from 3 to 7, she does her desk work. "After 7, my mind is not working." She sleeps long; "I love to sleep," she said, smiling.
Except for what is claimed to be a swelling tide of people who are not satisfied with her performance, there are many who believe in giving President Arroyo a chance to prove the marchers at EDSA II were right in installing her to the presidency. But the noisy minority, disillusioned by her performance, believes she has been too busy working for her election in 2004. That is not a novel charge; all presidents have been charged with working for their reelection. I thought, as I watched President Macapagal-Arroyo across the dining table from me, how much I still prefer her to other heads of state. She is articulate, she is intelligent, she does her homework; I believe she is sincere in trying to turn things around, in trying to make life better for Filipinos, especially the poor.
She is besieged with demands from many sectors. The women’s sector wants her to be more sympathetic to women’s issues (even if she has appointed the most number of women to her Cabinet and high positions in government). Population management advocates decry her anti-family planning stance. The Catholic Church, her strongest supporter yet, will now find issue with her position of meting the death penalty for a rapist. There are those who disagree with her on the Terms of Reference governing the deployment of US military forces in the Philippines under the Visiting Forces Agreement. There are those who question her choices for powerful position – in government, in the military. Many wonder why a number of her own men and women have resigned their positions.
Still, I see no alternative to GMA. I agree with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ saying it finds no credible alternative to her. I have no quarrel with the statement issued by Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, CBCP president. It says: "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 cautions Filipinos to be wary of attempts to organize another people power uprising as what happened in EDSA II which resulted in the ousting of then President Estrada.
"I do not see the Church supporting any artificially created people power trying to raise the banner of a contrived and artificially created national crisis," Quevedo said.
I say amen to that.