Pres. Macapagal Arroyo should not step down

It all began with the opposition conducting street rallies demanding that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo step down from her position as President of the Republic of the Philippines. One of the things that triggered the demand was the Garcillano tapes. Now the rallies have fizzled out but the demand for GMA’s resignation has found a champion in former Pres. Fidel Ramos. At first, Ramos wanted GMA to resign in July of last year. Now, Ramos wants her to step down this year in order to pave the way for the transition from presidential to a parliamentary system. We just hope that the issues involved will be properly discussed. And the first question that should be discussed and settled is: if the change is constitutional. That would settle the fact as to whether we are a constitutional government or a republic run by men and not by laws.

How can a former president demand that the incumbent president step down from office? What is the basis for the demand? There can only be two constitutional basis. First, she was not legally elected. Second, she was legally elected, but she has shown that she is not fit to run the country. GMA was legally elected to office and has proven that she is fit to run the country. The best proof at the moment is the strength of the peso. Could the peso be one of the strongest currencies in the world if we had a president who was not fit to govern?

The truth is that the strongest critic of GMA wants her to resign and make the shift from presidential to parliamentary because he is interested in becoming a prime minister. We have nothing against changing from presidential to parliamentary, but it should be effective after Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has finished her constitutional term. We are a democratic and not a banana republic.

As we said earlier, the popular demand for GMA to voluntarily step down has already died down. Let us concentrate on the problems facing the nation. We are a democracy so we should have oppositionists, but they should be presenting an alternative program and not just demand that the president voluntarily step down to accommodate their desire to run for office.

Fidel V. Ramos is a former president. One of his projects were the housing buildings that were erected along the highway on the side of the railroad tracks. Look at those buildings. Did they eliminate the slums along the railroad tracks? No! They simply became another form of slum on a major highway. Former Pres. Ramos should spend his time upgrading that project rather than waste his efforts trying to get GMA to resign which will never happen.