The only thing stable

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor ERIC T. LORETIZO Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Speaking before the members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines yesterday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared that she is the best person to lead the nation as it shifts from the presidential to the parliamentary form of government.

At the same time, she told the representatives of the international media in the country that she holds the mandate of the presidency which, she added, she won "fair and square", and that nothing can make her resign her post.

The President was obviously reacting to the calls for her resignation that have apparently become strident again, especially with recent statements from the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and from the former right-hand man of the late Cardinal Jaime Sin, the man credited with the coagulation of the vaunted People Power strategy that had resulted in the ouster of the elected president-turned-dictator, who had held on to the office for more than 20 years.

Perhaps the strong words were needed because the President, as well as her trusted advisers, must have felt that any sign of weakness or wavering on her part would surely affect the economic position of the country again. It has been noted that it takes so little for big changes in this aspect. News that some credit agency is putting us down could make stocks fall and the peso sink. The escape of a rebel soldier could bring similar results. Reports about an explosion near Malacañang came almost the same time as items about the peso falling a few centavos, and the stocks quivering in the market.

They reflect the condition of the people who cannot seem to see how their government will stabilize when all they can see is that life now seems to be like a yo-yo that goes up and down. They are told that charter change will be best for them, but they see resistance to it all around them.

Maybe the President's vow never to give up her position was meant to tell us all that even if other things are shaky, the only thing constant and stable is herself.*