Question/Topic: Should GMA resign or be ousted?
Underlying questions:
- Is GMA really the problem? Is this a case of putting a bad factor into a working tradition/system, or is this a case of a decaying system which will give bad outputs regardless of who the input is?
- Will her leaving position (either through resignation or ouster) better the state of the government and country?
o Given that she has indeed committed wrongs, will it be better to take her out immediately, or allow her to finish her term?
o To take her out may cause other problems, and a power struggle that could lead to catastrophic results.
- What are the other options?
Answer to the main question/ Report
Given only two options, we think that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should resign rather than be ousted. Resignation would mean that she acknowledges her faults, and can therefore be held accountable for said faults. If she is ousted however, she maintains her stand of not doing anything wrong. This will hinder us from getting anywhere, as accountability is a key factor in whatever we would want to achieve, be it her conviction, her making ammends for her crimes, or correcting her mistakes. Furthermore, resignation is a far cleaner and more peaceful process. Resignation will take one person, the president, and no one else. Attempting to oust her will take much time and effort from everyone, and may even generate violence and economic backlashes. Furthermore, we do not think that ouster will work on a president like Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She is too smart to be ousted. Ouster may work on blatantly corrupt people like former President Estrada or dicators such as former President Marcos, but for someone like her, who is wise in the ways of creating illusions and who allegedly controls much of the people in power, ouster would not be so effective. We also believe that to some extent, ouster ignores the due process required and provided for by the law. Also, if we attempt to oust her, it is our opinion that many people will try and take advantage of the power of the people to alleviate themselves and their reputations. Many will try to sway the masses to one side or another. Thus we cannot be sure if all the force generated by the people in the effort to oust her will really be directed into exactly that direction, or if it will be manipulated by others to serve their own needs.
Having said all this, we also think however, that her resignation is not a feasible option. It is our opinion that she will never resign. Outside these two options, we believe it is better for her to stay in power, and for people to use the time left until the next election to properly analyze the situation of whether our system is still working, and what kind of people and actions our country really needs. At the risk of allowing her to continue her allegedly corrupt actions while in office, we think there is a far greater risk if we were to abruptly take her out of of the system she serves in, a system which in fact, has her at the top.
2 comments:
Hi guys,
I completely agree on the points you presented. I guess we really have wait and gaze upon the unveiling events. As political scientists, detacthing ourselves in the midst of politica action for moment would greatly help in assessing our stand.
cya dis saturday:)
Yes I agree that we have to detach ourselves. One thing though, is that I feel that this will be a bit difficult for most of us. Though many brand us as apathetic, I still have reason to believe we are a highly emotional, and sympathetic people. Thus we may find overcoming our compulsion to act harder than expected.
I agree with what we discussed in class that we have an ACT NOW mentality, probably aggravated by this other cultivated mentality that others will not act for us or that if we do not act immediately, we will be deprived of any action at all. I think this is what we experience from many government offices who we perceive to not act quickly or efficiently enough, not act enough or not act at all.
Taking for example the recent call for donations by the school disaster relief team. I'm sure there are many more like this in other schools or parishes or baranggays. I think part of the reason these teams come to exist is because of the staunch belief that the Government will not provide such things. Thus it falls on the shoulders of private citizens to act.
I think our minds are too molded by the "government doesn't do anything" attitude. Thus it will be hard for us to resist the compulsion to act, even if it may be more beneficial for us to do so.
-Patricia Sta. Maria
P.S. Sorry if I sort of wandered off from the original topic of this post. I just recalled our class discussion today, and was really contemplating upon the merits of detaching ourselves and resisting action, particularly in our situation as Filipinos.
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