Arroyo fighting the demons of 2004

Ninety one per­cent of Fil­ipinos say Mrs. Arroyo failed in address­ing graft and cor­rup­tion, accord­ing to a Philip­pine Daily Inquirer report. Arroyo’s high­est marks were on deliv­ery of pub­lic ser­vices, which, accord­ing to the Inquirer, 14.4% agreed. The rest were all fail­ing marks.

This is a clas­sic exam­ple of how democ­racy func­tions, espe­cially in a frag­mented soci­ety such as ours. Peo­ple would def­i­nitely be not sat­is­fied with your per­for­mance as a pub­lic ser­vant, espe­cially if you got the pres­i­dency in the most slim of margins.

And expect that to be the fore­most rates that any pres­i­den­tiable would get once he wins come May 2010. A minor­ity pres­i­dent would always get fail­ing marks pre­cisely because major­ity of the vot­ers did not elect him.

Now, if you say that Fidel V. Ramos is an excep­tion, prob­a­bly you’re cor­rect. Ramos is a per­former and a vision­ary. He’s an effec­tive man­ager, a direc­tor of sorts, on how best to gov­ern this coun­try. He had an expe­ri­ence dur­ing the admin­is­tra­tion of mar­tial law. And he’s a West Pointer, trained on the best man­age­ment tech­nolo­gies and skills. He’s, at best, an aberration.

If Mrs. Arroyo expects to get rousing marks for all these things she is doing now, asa pa. She will never get the praise of people, since, from the very start, she was not able to get them anyway.

Her economic adviser Governor Salceda is right---had not 2004 happened, and the Arroyo administration successfully established its integrity and political legitimacy, this government would definitely not find itself mired in the unpopularity game.

Suffice it to say that it was actually a function of the Office of the Press Secretary to do this. And expectedly, the OPS would probably fail also since it faces a formidable force--the combined strength of former Arroyo allies and the political opposition.

Now, is it too late for Gloria to gather her own constituency that would be her protectors once she leaves office in June 2010? No.

The challenge for Mrs. Arroyo is simply do the right moves. First, prosecute graft offenders like Joc-Joc Bolante. Second, sign that executive order on Cheaper Medicines Law. Third, make examples of erring government officials. Fourth, be more visible. And fifth, avoid being combative and just stick to the job at hand---ensuring that government is prepared for the next administration.