GMA�s fury

The Philippine Daily Inquirer has this story about the latest flaring of President Arroyo�s temper. This time around, the one on the firing line is GMA 7�s hapless Tina Panganiban-Perez. The accusation: Perez abetted the rebellion by 1) interviewing Sen. Honasan even before the state of rebellion was lifted and 2) failing to air the side of the government by not interviewing Southern Luzon Army commander Alfonso Dagudag. Perez apparently told the president that the interview took place after the state of rebellion was lifted by president Arroyo and that the GMA management gave prior approval to the interview. In fact, according to Perez, GMA had a set of incentives for anyone who will land a Honasan interview. The story took a denouement when the President herself drove to GMA�s Kamuning office and personally reconciled with the station�s management.

Who is Tina Panganiban-Perez in the grand scheme of Philippine politics? No more than a broadcast transcriber--no matter how proficient--of things that matter in the political life of the nation. Viewed with Machiavellian objectivity, the President�s public displays of anger do nothing more confirm the nagging suspicion of a sizable number of Filipinos that she is a rich spoiled presidential brat weaned on the obsequiousness of servants ( not to mention that the president is probably now in the menopausal age when hormonal changes in the body are known to affect a woman�s disposition) .

All this is utterly unfair because the President, no doubt, is far from such misplaced pettiness. The reasons are ably described by PCIJ director Sheila Coronel in a recent essay. But the President would do well to redirect her animus to people far worthier than a lowly TV correspondent. After all, as Machiavelli advised the great Lorenzo de Medici more than four hundred years ago: One should choose one�s enemies more carefully than one should choose one�s friends.

Our coconut farmers, no doubt, would be jumping with glee if she would give Danding Cojuangco a public dressing down that the San Miguel chairman so richly deserve. Or for a diversion, she could probably do well to publicly berate Sen. Honasan for his latest display of military incompetence and political adventurism. And while she is at it, would the President do the public the favor of asking Sen. Honasan to please present his magic thesaurus which says intentional inaccessibility is different from hiding. Is the thesaurus an arcane, limited edition of Roget�s or an especially recondite one by Oxford University Press which our National Bookstore branches do not sell? The citizenry�s linguistic skills will surely improve if such a thesaurus could be publicly distributed.