Under fire: President Arroyo

Concerns are expressed that there is

nobody suitable to replace her, that the country's democratic institutions are in a mess and that there has even been talk of a military coup.

The possibility Mrs Arroyo could be replaced by her Vice-President, Noli de Castro, has alarmed many, says an editorial in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

People seem as leery of a Noli de Castro presidency as they are of five more years of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Commentator in Philippine Daily Inquirer

Headlined "Worried about Noli de Castro", it says a major factor making people hesitate in calling for her resignation "is the Noli de Castro factor. Last Thursday, a bishop and an official said no one wanted De Castro, a former radio-TV announcer, to succeed Ms Arroyo".

"The current political turmoil should make voters think again about the importance of electing a Vice-President who can step in and perform the functions of the president at a moment's notice."

"What if Arroyo resigns or is removed by whatever means? The prospect of a De Castro presidency is giving some people pause and making them weigh their options very carefully."

A commentator in the Inquirer concurs. "There is a legal, duly-elected successor in the person of the Vice-President, but people seem as leery of a Noli de Castro presidency as they are of five more years of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

"We would all rest easy if only our present crop of leaders, the 'bench' of our political elite, were deeper and presented more alternatives. Is there someone out there who commands enough respect and whose integrity is unassailable to command the allegiance of the citizenry?"

The government will sacrifice anyone just to save its own neck. What kind of leader do we have? Where is the sincerity? Abante

"And if we cannot find such a person -or persons - will it now be a case of better the devil we know, than the devil we do not know?"

The same commentator suggests a link between Mrs Arroyo's present plight and her decision to withdraw troops from Iraq to meet the demands of kidnappers holding a Filipino hostage.

"Breaking away from the coalition of the willing, did Arroyo end up paving the way for the current crisis besetting her administration?"

'Nowhere to hide'

An editorial in the Tagalog-language Abante says President Arroyo "has nowhere to hide in the intensifying Gloriagate scandal".

"The government will sacrifice anyone just to save its own neck. What kind of leader do we have? Where is the sincerity? Why do all the scandals have to happen first before Cabinet officials are punished?"

It accuses the government of treating the Filipino people as if they were "extremely stupid".

"From the very beginning, this has been the problem of Madam President. She could not reach the Filipino people. She will continue to fail to earn the nation's trust because the people feel that what Arroyo says and does in front of the camera is superficial."

Writing in the The Philippine Star, Max V. Soliven is "appalled" that politicians are calling for a snap election to choose a new President, when, he argues, the electoral authorities are unfit to do their job.

Under her political leadership, however, democracy in this country has actually regressed Manila Times

"If the results of the May 2004 elections are now under serious question, how could... the same discredited Commission on Elections be trusted to undertake the 'snap' one?"

"The bottom line is: We cannot hope to hold credible elections in this country unless we purge and reform our Commission on Elections. This isn't a democracy. It's an adhocracy."

Mr Soliven also points to demands from "rabid rightists" for a military junta as a solution to the crisis. "The known history of military takeovers is that they stick around, despite promises," he warns.

An editorial in the Manila Times, headlined "Silent strangulation", says that if the government falls, "the President would have no one else to blame, but herself and her supposed allies in the government."

"GMA and her allies have done nothing but deflect, deny and defer on the tape issue. It comes as no surprise that most people are frustrated and appalled by their deliberate and shameless strategy."

People need to put their trust in GMA so that the country can overcome the current political crisis Rural leader quoted in Tanod

"The GMA administration wants to be seen as democratic, as modernizing and globalizing. Under her political leadership, however, democracy in this country has actually regressed and her actions and the actions of her administration during the past few weeks bear witness to this reality."

"The administration has been calling on the people not to take to the streets... But one cannot expect our people to remain submissive when irrefutable evidence of electoral fraud has allegedly been uncovered," concludes the Times editorial.

Mrs Arroyo may take some encouragement from a report in the Tagalog paper Tanod that leaders of the country's League of Villages "have declared their full support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo amid the non-stop accusations from the opposition over the controversial wiretapped conversation".

A League leader "said he is confident that President Arroyo will finish her term in 2010... He stressed that the people need to put their trust in GMA so that the country can overcome the current political crisis."

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