More Gloriagate links

Read this. And this on Roco's reaction.

Your apology is "noted", Mrs. Arroyo. Time to resign.

And from the Malaya Editorial:

OK, it’s time for the nation to move forward. The people should step up calls for the felon in Malacañang to resign. If she doesn’t, they should stop paying their taxes, abandon their workplaces, march in the streets and paralyze government and business.

Gloria Arroyo in her nationwide address the other night apologized for her "lapse in judgment" in calling a Comelec official. Apology is "noted." Many are even prepared to forgive not only the lapse of judgment but even the clear crime of doctoring the 2004 election results.

But forgiveness does not mean absolution of a crime committed. Much less does it mean that one who stole the election should be allowed to enjoy the fruits of her thievery.

In her "apology," Gloria could not even dare say what offenses she has committed against the Filipino people. She talked to a Comelec official. That was improper. And that’s it. It’s time to move on, she said.

It reminds us of her Georgetown University classmate who denied he had sex with "that woman." Gloria had a conversation with "a Comelec official." Why couldn’t she say it was Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano?

Because Garcillano was a cheating artist she had appointed to the Comelec despite the reputation that had preceded him. Because Garcillano had no business poking his dirty fingers in the canvassing in Mindanao (he was supposed so supervise elections in Southern Luzon). Because Garcillano, in the wiretapped conversations, was talking about vote-padding with the clear assent and encouragement of Gloria.

There was a plot long hatched and systemically implemented to steal the elections. "Ibaon na lang sa limot?"

Past is past, we agree. We could not turn back the hands of time. It is no longer possible to count the votes in the 2004 honestly. It is no longer possible to stop Messieurs "Noted" – Rep. Raul Gonzalez, who has been rewarded the justice portfolio, and Francisco Pangilinan – from rejecting calls to compare certificates of canvass with statements of votes. We could no longer delete from the pages of history the June 30, 2004, inaugural of Arroyo in Cebu City.

So Gloria is right. The nation should move forward.

And what lies ahead for the nation? One is continued rule by the liars and the thieves. The other is governance by leaders honestly elected.

The choice should be obvious. Even before the "Hello Garci" tapes surfaced, the people, in their wisdom, had already lost trust in Gloria. Did the collective subconscious already know she is an illegitimate president long before the surfacing of the evidence?

For sure Gloria would not simply roll over and resign because she was caught red-handed stealing the presidency and committing a slew of criminal offenses in the process. Brazen after all is her middle name (remember how she usurped the presidency in 2001?).

But that should be a challenge, not a deterrent, to putting in place a government that truly reflects the will of the people.