Making sense of what goes on in today’s political development is at times getting incomprehensible.

The persistent suspicion, for instance, that President Gloria Arroyo is doing everything to make possible her hold on to power even after the end of her presidency in 2010.

It is an old issue but it persists, and increasingly, because while Malacañang spokespersons alternately deny it, the President herself continues to evade making categorical declaration that she would leave office at the end of her term next year.

What the President says is the assurance there would be elections in 2010 as provided in the Constitution, clearly in response to allegations that the administration may suspend it for whatever reason to justify her continuance in office and thus avoid the opposition’s threats of prosecution.

This same line was again used by Malacañang Wednesday, assuring that the President has “nothing to fear because she has not taken advantage of her position for personal profit.”

It was also in answer to former President Fidel Ramos’ warning that the country was heading towards a political debacle “if President Arroyo does not drop her plan to stay in Malacañang” after her presidential term of office next year.

Ramos in his statement appears convinced that President Arroyo is eyeing a congressional seat in next year’s elections, as rumored, and then run for prime minister under the proposed constitutional amendment adopting a parliamentary form of government.

This is the only plausible reason, many suspect, for the unrelenting pursuit of what has been considered the abominable issue of Charter change that up to now endures as obsession of House leaders allied with the president.

Ramos touched on this administration stance again the other day, urging President Arroyo to “face the music” instead of conjuring up tortuous plots and machinations to avoid threats from her political enemies.

“If you have done your best effort based on your judgment call, then be prepared to defend it in any court of law,” Ramos advised the president.

Ostensibly piqued by the former president’s advice, some Malacañang officials maintained “She has nothing to fear because her accomplishments, her achievements in infrastructure, in basic services, in human development, will speak for themselves.”

But at the same time, the same officials expressed appreciation for the former president’s advice, saying Mrs. Arroyo values them coming from a “very competent former leader.”

“I am sure the president will appreciate this advice and I’m sure that is also guiding her in all her implementations of programs for our country,” Secretary to the Cabinet Silvestre Bello III was quoted in the newspapers as saying.

Still, some House members are questioning Ramos’ interferences, raising the issue of “moral authority to lecture President Arroyo on governance.”

They said “FVR is no different from GMA,” pointing to Ramos’ own frequent foreign travels during his Malacañang tenure, and his campaign for Charter change through the People’s Initiative for Reform, Modernization, and Action (PIRMA), among others.

No matter.

Ramos just the same urged Gloria Arroyo to make up for her shortcomings in her ways of governance during the remaining days of her administration even as he appealed to the country’s political leaders to be less concerned with their individual and personal ambitions “and help prevent the deterioration of the quality of life of Filipinos and the country’s image before the international community.”

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)