There s nothing new about that prognosis. Everyone opposed to the continued stay in office of Mr. Estrada has cited this as one of the principal reasons for him to either resign or be stripped of his position through impeachment or other means. Jaime Cardinal Sin, for instance, said that Mr. Estrada no longer had the moral ascendancy to govern almost as soon as he heard Ilocos Sur Gov. What made this assessment news was that it was made by Economic Planning Secretary Felipe Medalla. Even if I am convinced of his innocence, the question remains whether he can govern, Medalla was quoted as saying late last week by Reuters news agency.
Governance is to a large extent also perception and appearance.
Even if the allegation that the President committed graft and corruption is not true, Medalla said, there are enough people who believe it is true. In particular, the business community believes it is true, he said, the international business community believes it is true. This widespread perception of graft in government, coupled with charges of cronyism and mismanagement, has proven costly for an economy that has been struggling to recover from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Investment during the first 11 months of last year hit a 12-year low of P38.7 billion, down by 64 percent from the previous year s P106 billion, according to the Board of Investments. The level of investment is not expected to improve this year.