A national shame

By Nestor Mata
MANILA – The fault for this national shame has been laid by freedom-loving Filipinos at the doorsteps of Malacanang, the Palace along the stinking Pasig River, where Gloria Arroyo resides.

They had long feared that this would happen after closely watching her despicable record of shamelessly mangling the Constitution, violating with impunity the rule of law, and making a mockery of our democratic institutions and principles, in the last seven years of her illegitimate presidency.

Thats why they were not shocked too much when the Freedom House, a US-based democracy watchdog, yanked the Philippines from the global roster of working democracies.

Actually, this is not the first of such reports that have put our country to shame in the eyes of the world. That downgrading closely followed a report of the human rights expert of the United Nations who, after investigating the so-called extra-judicial killings of judges, priests, journalists, activists and others and attributed these to Glorias police and military minions.

Indeed, there has been a notable increase in such unexplained murders and disappearances ever since she seized the seat of power seven years ago.

We too have consistently observed that Arroyos is not a rule of the Filipino people but by her together with rabid political partisans and charlatans in both the halls of Congress and in the executive department. And this is not to mention the nationwide surveys that showed the people perceive her as the most corrupt of all Philippine presidents ever.

Yes, our democratic institutions are already creaking because of the rampant corruption in her administration. Truth to tell she has been ruling the country with a kind of phony-democratic cocksureness.

Thats why millions of disgruntled citizens from the poor masses to church leaders, businessmen, lawyers, journalists and political activists have vocally clamored for her to step down from power, denouncing what they call the moral bankruptcy of her tainted administration.

All these acts of a government whose moral fiber has been worn thin have been reported, many, many times in newspapers, radio and television.