EDITORIAL — This election will never be a referendum on Gloria

Some political pundits, with encouragement from some senatorial candidates themselves, notably from the opposition, are insisting that the midterm elections on Monday will be a sort of referendum on the leadership of President Arroyo.

That of course is a sorry excuse for promoting the candidacies of those who are running in the said election. There is no way the May 14 elections can turn out as a referendum on Arroyo unless the results of the senatorial race come out in a 12-0 configuration either way.

Only a 12-0 configuration either way can an approval or a rejection of the leadership of Arroyo be inferred, which is what a referendum is all about and what a referendum should turn out to be.

Anything less than a 12-0 configuration either way will fall short of the measure by which we can allow ourselves to accept the possibility that a proxy referendum took place with the May 14 election.

This is because while the election is clearly divided along party lines, the lineups of the parties themselves are very difficult to define with great certainty. Even to this day, the party loyalties of many remain suspect.

There is no way of making an absolute determination as to whether candidate so and so, while already with this or that party, is not really acting in the interest of this or that political patron from the other side.

In other words, the affiliations we see may only be as deep as the veneer of political loyalties, which in Philippine politics is not something to bet an honest day''s wages on. The kindest word to describe loyalties in Philippine politics is temporary.

Now, how can a referendum be legitimately inferred from an exercise based on the most temporary of footings. In fact, no party is pushing for a 12-0 shutout either way. What we have are various configurations of 8-4 or 7-5, etc. Where then is the referendum in that?