Arroyo gets failing grade as Edsa2 anniv nears

MANILA, Philippines - As the eighth anniversary of her rise to power nears, President Arroyo received a "failing" grade from a senior Catholic bishop, who urged her to drop any plan to remain in office after 2010. Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Oscar Cruz said Arroyo has fallen way short of expectations - having a promising start in 2001 but having little to show after eight years. "So much time spent for so little to show. So much money dissipated for so meager an achievement to look for. So much power and influence exerted for so many futile promises made and volatile visions proclaimed. And prolongation of Office by any other nature or name is still being sought for exactly the same presumable public servant? Come on! Wake up. Be real!" he said in his web log. He also scored her for entertaining thoughts of Charter change, even as he reminded her of her promise not to run for election in 2004, only to change her mind 10 months later. Cruz also reminded Arroyo of the 1987 Constitution, which states that the president and vice president have a fixed term of six years. "They all proclaim different noble motives for their fervent intention to change the Constitution. From the generic claim that it is flawed in many provisions to the extent of its wanting in many genuine aspirations of the people, the proponents of Charter Change all sing basically the same song that the Constitution is the cause of the underdevelopment of the Country and the poverty of the people," he said. "They all pretend to be illustrious agents of change in this pathetic land of the evening where corruption has become the law and integrity has emerged something passé—if not actually outlawed even," he added. - GMANews.TV