Follow-up more crucial than dropping 2004 bid

DRASTIC & DRAMATIC: For weeks, we were nagging President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to do something drastic and dramatic before the end of the year to arrest the undeserved drop in her popularity rating in the surveys.

Last Christmas Eve, we said in the opening paragraph of our Postscript: "The problems of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo startedthe day she succumbed to the temptation of running for her own six-year term in the 2004 presidential election."

As we said in that Dec. 24 column, we believe that her focus on the 2004 election had doomed her presidency. (Visit www.manilamail.com/archive/dec2002/02dec24.htm in the Internet to read our preview of GMA’s decision not to run in 2004.)

Then last Dec. 30, Rizal Day, she made the stunning announcement that she would no longer run for president in 2004. How was that for impact?

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GRABBING ATTENTION: Before she came out with that, we were asking ourselves what would be dramatic enough for President Arroyo to jolt this nation of growing cynics.

Among the things that we thought had enough impact to grab back the nation’s attention while she proceeded to mend her tattered image were:

1. Divorce her husband Mike, a lightning rod of scandals. Or throw him into some kind of exile, possibly by naming him ambassador to an obscure and far-away land.

2. Announce a firm decision to give up the option of running for president in 2004.

3. Fire controversial Justice Secretary Hernando Perez before he senses the ground shaking and resigns on his own.

4. Severe all ties with the Makati law firm feeding her with hot dossiers and juicy contracts – and tell the people the reasons.

5. Do away with the PPA (purchased power adjustment) that had doubled electric bills.

6. File graft charges against two or three Cabinet members and their cohorts.

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CRUCIAL FOLLOW-THRU: After she mustered enough courage to do the second item in the options listed, i.e. foreswear the 2004 presidential election, we were suddenly not sure if that would be enough to level off the downward line on the popularity chart.

By itself, her decision not to run in 2004 is not enough to rally the nation around her. It is not enough to repair her shattered vision of a peaceful and progressive Philippines.

But used as the starting point in a well-planned demonstration of her sincerity and capability, her no-election gambit could rehabilitate not only her popularity but, more importantly, also the nation’s faith in itself and its leaders.

We will be keenly watching her follow-through, with a New Year’s wish for her to succeed. For our own sake, we must grant the President good faith and cooperate in every way we can.

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UNDESERVED DROP: We described as "undeserved" the President’s skidding in the popularity polls, because she is not totally to blame for the morass we are in.

Expectations were unusually high when then President Erap Estrada was driven out of Malacañang against the backdrop of a plundered economy.

Mrs. Arroyo inherited a divided nation. And while much was expected of her, she did not have enough time to unify the contending factions and correct the accumulated failures of past administrations.

She has been president for only two years. That is not enough time even for the gestation of major projects aimed at alleviating poverty and perking up the economy.

What can anyone do in two years – especially with opposition forces busy making sure she does not succeed and prove herself better than the deposed president?

But with her wiping away the partisan color of her administration, we hope that the opposition will give her a chance to make something of her remaining 18 months in office.

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P100-M LOTTO JACKPOT: You have another chance to convert your P10 into P100 million before the end of the day.

Without meaning to advocate gambling as the passport to prosperity, we remind you that the SuperLotto draw will be at 9 p.m. with a jackpot estimated to break the P100-million mark.

You will find the betting lines unusually long, and you might not beat the deadline, if you wait till the last hour to place your bet.

If you have no six-number combination in mind, that’s no problem. Just pull out your P10 and leave it to the computer at the Lotto betting station to pick an LP (Lucky Pick) combination for you.

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LOTTO TIPS: Many readers have learned to look to Postscript for Lotto tips, so here are some statistical data that might prove useful.

From the year’s first SuperLotto draw last Jan. 6 to the last draw last Sunday, for a total of 82 draws, No. 18 is still the year’s runaway leader, having come out 16 times.

Other llamado or very active numbers are 5, 9, 14 (each came out 15 times), 23, 31, 49 (13 times each), and 8, 12, 19, 24, 34, 43 and 44 (12 times each). Some bettors go for active numbers.

The dejado or laziest numbers are 22 and 42, each one coming out only five times since January. Some bettors pick sleepers, on the belief that they might just be on the verge of waking up.

Looking at the draws of the past two months only, the most active numbers are 9 (came out six times), 15 and 40 (five times each), 8, 14 and 18 (four times each). We mention them because some bettors pay attention to numbers that seem to be on a winning streak in the last several draws.

Try including two consecutive numbers in your six-number combination. The chart shows that many numbers come out in pairs. In the last draw, for instance, there was the 45-46 pair. Before that, there were the 18-19 and 40-41 pairs.

But as we keep saying, any number is as good as any other. Just pick your favorite numbers or resign to numbers chosen at random, or leave everything to the Lotto computer to pick your bets, and you are still in contention.

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ePOSTSCRIPT: You can read Postscript in advance simply by going to our personal website www.manilamail.com. While at our ManilaMail.com site, you can also peruse back columns and review past discussions on specific subjects. E-mail can be sent to us at [email protected] and [email protected].