Minguita Padilla

Minguita Padilla The Philippine Daily Inquirer Asia News Network Manila

I voted for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo not so much because I was convinced she was the best of the lot, but because of fear.

I feared that a vote against her would be a vote for Fernando Poe, Jr. who, at that time, I believed to be the greater evil; not so much because of his person who history has since judged to have been a good man with a noble heart and a sincere desire to serve our country. No. Like many, I feared FPJ because of his inexperience and especially because of the people behind him who had been shown to be opportunists. I voted defensively.

However, it was a defensive vote that carried with it the hope that by giving Arroyo a clear mandate, she would perform as a good president should, with only the best interest of our nation and its people in mind. I did it for love of country.

But the events over the past several months, especially those of the last, have been enough to almost cause me to throw in the towel and declare, like so many of our countrymen, that indeed we are a hopeless nation. It is only the fighter and the dreamer in me that make me hold on.

We are a battered people, battered by administrations that have betrayed our dreams and shot down our hopes since we fought for our freedom in Edsa I. It is a "learned helplessness" that seems to have taken over the majority of our people, now grown cynical and numb in the face of scandal after scandal that has rocked the last two administrations. But we cannot allow anyone to rob us of hope. We do that and we lose everything.

Shocking as they may be, the latest jueteng scandal now being investigated in the Senate as well as the taped phone conversations of the President that allegedly point to her giving instructions to an official of the Commission on Elections to cheat during the last balloting are but the symptoms of a cancer (corruption) that has slowly and insidiously taken over our land and our people.

Should the taped conversation prove to be authentic, the brazen way the instructions for cheating were being given by the President to a Comelec official is again a symptom of how we have become as a nation to corruption. The head of state and an official trusted to safeguard our votes would think nothing of mocking one of the most sacred rights of our people. And even sadder is that very few groups, save those with vested interests, are publicly demanding to get to the bottom of this serious charge.

Could it be because we are still stunned by what we are witnessing? Or could it be that we have sunk to such depths as a nation that we are no longer capable of outrage?

We are at another crossroads and we, citizens of good will who have not yet given up hope, must reclaim our nation. We must complete the unfinished Edsa I revolution that lacked an essential element-the transformation of heart. We do nothing now and we may again see our country held hostage by yet another group of people only too eager to oust the present regime so it can do what it is accusing the present leadership.

We need to be united as a nation during these difficult times. But it cannot be a "unity" that is achieved at the expense of truth and justice; a unity that simply helps to propagate all that is wrong with our present system. If we must be united, let it be in demanding that our leadership set things straight and stop skirting issues by fighting accusations only with counter- accusations. Let us demand that we be given the truth for a change. We have turned a blind eye to wrongdoing long enough and this is where it has led us.

Like most Filipinos, I so desire to see our country get back on track. I wish to see the sanctity of the ballot protected, the dignity of our institutions restored, our Constitution respected, and our nation's soul reclaimed. I am not a destabilizer. I am simply a Filipino who refuses to give up hope. I therefore beg the President to submit these taped telephone conversations for authentication by independent, international agencies.

If the version wherein she is speaking to the Comelec official is proven false, then everybody stands to gain. She would be vindicated and we would perhaps learn how to trust again. However, should it be proven authentic then she would be guilty of an impeachable offense. Should this be the case then she should do what is decent and best for our country. She must step down.

The writer is the founder and president of the Eye Bank, is also president of Sinag, a People's Crusade for Good Governance.