EDITORIAL – Everything must still be all right with Filipinos

The approval rating of President Arroyo has slipped again. After clawing back slightly in the last survey, it has now dropped right back to its second lowest level of negative 30 percent. But then, what else is new?

President Arroyo has never been popular, or at least was a bit popular only when she was a senator but has since then endured a steady drop in public acceptance. That she somehow managed to climb up the ranks is largely due to the even greater unpopularity of her opponents.

Thus, in this way, has President Arroyo been blessed --- through the circuitous route to the backdoor, benefiting from the misfortunes of others. She is like Fortinbras, waiting in the sidelines to pick up the pieces after the others had finished killing themselves.

Yet it had not been all this way. She had not been always so lucky. Of course, it paid to have a precious name. That is why, for purposes of furthering her political career, she always insisted on carrying the name of her father, former president Diosdado Macapagal.

But a name that is not matched by personal public acceptance can only carry anyone so far. In the case of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, her name was sufficient only in carrying her as far as the vice presidency.

While still a senator, she did try to frog-leap to the presidency but was immediately ripped to pieces. That, of course, was also due in large part to her having exposed herself too early, thus becoming the only visible target at the time she bared her neck.

Eventually, she settled for the vice presidency. But it remains quite certain in the eyes of many that even if she had not tried to jump the gun on everyone and had not thus been ripped to pieces early on, that she still would have been no match for eventual winner Joseph Estrada.

Whether Arroyo clashed head-on with Estrada in 1998 or against several other candidates, she would not have managed to eke out a win by whatever means. In a popularity contest such as Philippine elections, she remains a bad bet.

In 2004, however, things became somewhat different. Conditions in the country were bordering on despair. Worse, the contenders for leadership were a bunch of, well, you know what. Gloria may have been unpopular, but she was still a notch above the rest. So there.

Back to the surveys. The president's popularity scraping rock bottom? Why, it was there in the first place and if it is there again, then that should be no big deal. What should be worrisome is if it soared and refused to come down. Then something must be wrong with Filipinos.