Lesser evil?

One step forward, several steps backwards. That’s the Philippines today.
What started as a gambling expose that has caused migraine to the first family has gotten complicated. Two attorneys, one a former lawyer of former president Erap Estrada and another who is a former NBI official bypassed for the top post, have come out claiming to have a copy of an audio recording of Pres. Arroyo’s alleged telephone conversation with someone believed to be a Commissioner of the COMELEC purportedly to influence the results of the last presidential elections.
The Senate probe dealing with jueteng<D> the common man’s illegal gambling, blew a lot of smoke going toward the direction of law enforcement officials, politicians and the president’s kin. While the witnesses made a lot of noise, most of the testimonies were heresy and probably not damning enough to withstand the rules of evidence in a formal court proceeding. We don’t know yet if there is more to come. But from what has been unloaded so far, it does not look like there is going to be an explosion approaching a Singson expose that led to the downfall of Erap Estrada.
What is disturbing however is the allegation of an apparent attempt to manipulate the results of the presidential and senatorial elections. Also disturbing is the vulnerability of the security of presidential communications.
The authenticity of the alleged wiretapped material has yet to be established. The identity of the recorded characters have yet to be conclusively verified. The two lawyers who claim to possess authentic copies of the controversial tapes say that the recorded conversation is evidence that Arroyo cheated to victory in the presidential elections. That by itself is not conclusive that Pres. Arroyo’s conversation with a Commission On Election official resulted in the alteration of the electoral count. But even if we have to put a positive spin that there was no alteration of the election count, soliciting another government official to influence the result of a presidential election is a serious breach of the presidential oath to uphold the law.
If the tape proves authentic and it is established that it is Pres. Arroyo speaking with a Comelec official soliciting a recipe for cooking election results, the legal processes must be unleashed to deal with the sins of the executive. The people will not countenance a cover up. It is premature to talk about impeachment at this time. Nothing has been proven at this stage. For now, let’s wait and see.
The opposition has made no secret of what they want. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, son of deposed president Erap Estrada, does not want impeachment proceedings against Pres. Arroyo. He prefers mass action to change the administration. He can smell the termination of the plunder cases against his father. Minority Leader Sen. Aquilino Pimentel is not keen on impeachment proceedings either, He wants to pressure Pres. Arroyo, and even Vice President Noli De Castro into resigning so that special elections can be conducted. Pimentel must be licking his chops on an imaginary presidential plate.
Some business leaders in Manila have expressed concern at the political turbulence. The stock market suffered reverses. As businesses hold back on investment until the smoke clears, it’s the small people who suffer most of the sting from the ramble of crabs.
It was feared that the opposition and militant activists would foment an upheaval by the populace during the independence day celebrations in Manila over the weekend to call for the ouster of Pres. Arroyo. Jinggoy, Pimentel and company however failed to muster an EDSA I or EDSA II. I guess people have become wiser. They looked at the drummers and they said no. It is sad that people are just left with a choice to pick the lesser evil.