That is like cutting off an arm to get rid of a finger infection. Or burning the house down to get rid of a rat. What was Arroyo thinking? And if she was thinking, what was the focus of her thoughts?
These unflattering questions have to be asked because, on hindsight, and whether she admits it or not, her entire political career seems to be tragically marked by a series of either bad or wrong decisions.
Let us go back to 1998, when she first developed the itch for the presidency. Long before it was appropriate or practical for anyone to lay their cards on the table, then senator Arroyo tried to beat everyone by sticking her tiny neck out as an early presidential contender.
But with no other target visible on the horizon at the time, Arroyo became an instant and solitary magnet that attracted every political demolition job imaginable, forcing her to back off and back down. Crippled, she had to settle for a shot at the vice presidency.
Uncannily, however, while hounded by a poor track record in decision-making, Arroyo also possesses an enviable record of being extremely lucky. Despite her 1998 debacle, in the end she still managed to gain the presidency through the back door with the ouster of President Estrada.
Yet bad decisions, and the opportunity to make them, never seem to let go of Arroyo. On the eve of the next political season, Arroyo made another disastrous decision by announcing her intention not to embark on another run for the presidency.
It was a bad decision because there was no hiding the fact that she always coveted the presidency, one that she had to win and not just inherit. The promise not to run was a promise she knew she could not and would not keep.
True enough, she ran for the presidency in 2004. But as luck would have it, she turned out to be the better choice among a range of poor choices. At least this was evident to most clear-thinking Filipinos. She won the election.
But because there are no losers in any Philippine election, only those who claim to have been cheated, Arroyo soon got herself caught in a swirl of fraud accusations. The charges flew thick and fast and were so virulent they continue to hound her to this day.
And then, exasperatingly, while in the midst of all the Sturm und Drang, the little lady from Lubao had to make yet another bad decision. On national television, and in the most contrite of faces, she said sorry to the nation.
For God's sake, she did not have to do that. If she did not cheat, there was nothing to say sorry for. And if she did, which is what everybody does anyhow, in one way or another, why the heck did she have to come so close to admitting it? No one ever does.
Now she is ordering a retake of the controversial nursing board exam. Why would she do that? To be sure, there are plenty of guilty cheaters who will be able to get away if no retake was ordered. But there will be even more innocent and honest passers who could fail this time.
The quest for justice is full of pitfalls. The law is not perfect. That is why, in recognition of these shortcomings, it is always said that it is better to let the guilty go free than punish the innocent. Having made another wrong decision, will luck still hold out for her?