EDITORIAL — Challenges

She doesn’t want to waste her time fighting with her opponents, and she’s determined to finish her term, with three years, 11 months and six more days to go. President Arroyo was in a buoyant mood yesterday as she delivered her sixth State of the Nation Address, thanking soldiers, police, civil servants and the people "who have resisted persistent if not pathetic calls for despair instead of faith, for anarchy instead of harmony." She also painted a picture of a nation with the resources for economic takeoff.

The real picture is less rosy, but a President is also cheerleader-in-chief and does not have the luxury of succumbing to despair like the rest of us. Political uncertainty will continue to hound President Arroyo as the second effort to impeach her fails and questions about her mandate remain unresolved. The President knows as well as anyone that national unity will always be a pipe dream during her watch.

What will guarantee her political survival is positive change leading to economic progress. This will have to be achieved within a culture where policy makers and other officials in charge of development have long benefited from the status quo. The President made all the right noises about fighting corruption, cutting red tape and promoting investments, but the devil is always in the implementation. She called for poll automation and bigger allocations for education and health care, but lawmakers, forever squabbling over the pork barrel, cannot even pass this year’s national budget.

"Your government is working, and working well," the President told the nation. It is more accurate to say that the government is functioning, but governance can use a great deal of reforms — in terms of transparency, accountability and efficiency.

Despite unresolved scandals, there is room for optimism. In the past year, amid political turmoil and soaring oil prices, Congress and Malacañang managed to pass tough fiscal reforms, and the public swallowed the bitter pills with minimal protest. Greater challenges lie ahead.