Ring in the new

There were the usual crabs and small minds thinking the worst of President Arroyo the other day. But for the most part Filipinos seemed willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt when she announced, her face beaming, that she was dropping out of the presidential race in 2004.

The willingness was not just because this is the season of hope and joy, when we are supposed to think positive and see the best even in our enemies. More importantly, the President articulated in her speech our frustrations about this country, and our fears that we are being left behind by a rapidly changing world.

Our resident artist, a pretty cynical guy who rarely has anything good to say about public officials, said he was moved to tears by the speech – not necessarily by the part about the President not running in 2004, but about the nation’s sense of gloom.

I was still asleep when the President made the speech and was interviewed on radio. My first reaction upon waking up and being told of the announcement was typical: What’s the hidden agenda?

But in the afternoon when I finally had a copy of the speech and saw TV replays of the President willingly turning herself into a lame duck, I couldn’t help being moved.

That was our despair she was talking about, our deep disappointment each time we travel abroad and wonder if we can ever catch up with the rest of the world. That was our disgust she was expressing in her usual flat, school-marmsy voice, our appalled disbelief each time we scan the Philippine political horizon and see nothing but a bunch of crooks and clowns. How can those people ever deliver us from this sinkhole?

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The only thing that could be coaxed out of usually reliable sources the other day was that the President got sick of pressure groups threatening to withdraw support from her in 2004 if she didn’t do this or that. So she put her finger into the air, felt a touch from Heaven and decided it was time to announce something she had been considering for months.

Everyone seemed genuinely surprised by the announcement: Lakas-NUCD stalwarts, Cabinet members and even her "little president." My guess is the move to shift to a parliamentary form of government will now get a stronger push, but the President will have to stay out of that controversy.

She has often observed that she inherited a deeply divided country, which left her with very little elbowroom to implement her programs. Yesterday she told CNN she was dropping out of the presidential race "to help the Philippines survive this global crisis."

"I decided to lead by example," she said. "Somebody had to make a sacrifice, and I decided it had to be me."

How many people can walk away from power with grace and dignity? I can remember only Corazon Aquino. "There’s life after the presidency," Mrs. Aquino has often said.

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If you look at it another way it’s not such a painful sacrifice for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. By June 30, 2004, when she hands over the reins of power to a duly elected successor, she would have served three and a half years at the nation’s helm. That’s just six months short of a full term for Philippine presidents before martial law was imposed in 1972.

She ascended to power without spending a single centavo for a bruising presidential campaign, without being subjected to the avalanche of black propaganda that often buries candidates for the presidency. No wonder this woman believes so strongly in divine providence.

President Arroyo already has her place in Philippine history. Now she wants to leave a legacy – not a nation wallowing in despair and sinking in debt, but one that can at least dare to hope for better times ahead because she has laid down the foundations for progress.

She may be losing six years in power, but victory is iffy at this time anyway. Her ratings are sliding precipitously even in Malacañang’s internal surveys. And with everyone out to make sure she fails, both as incumbent President and candidate for 2004, she can get hardly any work done.

If she were a candidate, the next six months would have been her make-or-break period. If her numbers still could not recover by the end of June, her party could dump her for someone with better chances of winning.

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The President is taking a big risk by declaring herself a lame duck. But she must have weighed the risks against the consequences of aggravating deep political divisions as 2004 approaches. Those who refuse to cooperate with her at this time will be seen as villains who will never do anything for the sake of the nation.

With her announcement, the President has finally bought herself a honeymoon period with her political enemies. I doubt if her critics in the press will be silenced, but if the likes of opposition Senators Edgardo Angara and Panfilo Lacson are cautiously singing her praises that’s progress enough.

The corruption scandals aside, this is one President who clearly has a good grasp of the problems besetting the nation amid globalization. I can understand why some people were teary-eyed when the President said in her speech that ours was the first republic in Asia, but over the past decades it has become one of the weakest. We try to avoid such ugly thoughts at the approach of a new year, but since the President herself has articulated our frustrations, there’s no sidestepping them.

This coming year we must face these problems and do something drastic to arrest the nation’s slide. 2002 was not too bad – economic growth of over 4 percent is enviable in a world in recession. But growth was consumer-led and investors stayed away because of everything that is wrong with this country: criminality, corruption, politicking and plain inefficiency. Inflation was minimal, although this was because of low demand. Interest rates were low, but again because of few borrowers.

We muddled through, but we can’t keep muddling along while the rest of the world is sprinting past us. In her speech the President refused to give in to despair, outlining her priorities for the coming year. We wish her success, and we wish our nation the best.

It’s a good way to close the year. A happy New Year to all!