Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Should Resign

I've had discussions with some friends about the current political crisis gripping Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

We agreed that resignation was her best option, but our friends in the Philippines, surprisingly thought that this was not in the best interest of the country.

In a nutshell, a credible wiretap of conversations involving Arroyo and election officials discussing ballot results began to circulate a few weeks ago, immortalized of all things, in a ringtone called "Hello Garci". This prompted Arroyo to issue an apology, which was nice given the fact that the voice on the tape was clearly hers, but I believe that her resignation is the right and only honorable thing to do.

It was a bit disappointing that there was not too much outcry from the Filipino people regarding this (just no-not-again-type discussions, with no anger and disgust), and I even told some friends that if nothing happens soon, I will do everything in my power (i.e. "blog") to make her resignation happen.

However, I just checked-in with the Philippine news sites tonight and it seems that the call for her resignation is finally growing. If my reading is correct, Arroyo will find that she will be too isolated to fight, and the only real recourse will be to resign. I'm hoping that her administration facilitates a smooth transition to the vice-president for the "good of the country" -- which has been Arroyo's mantra these days. Things like this happen fairly quickly so I am expecting something very soon, hopefully by next week. Either she resigns, or she clamps down and gets ready to face impeachment by congress and a merciless attack by the media and public opinion which she will never recover from for the rest of her life (and beyond).