President Fidel V. Ramos, first citizen and senior statesman, is probably more persuasive in suggesting that reopening the Garci inquiry will just be divisive and detrimental to legislative work, which is to enact laws to help the poor.

He also suggested that if the senators had new evidence, they should present it to the proper forum instead of the media.

The minor problem is that the surfacing of the Garci tapes divided the nation at the outset, and this may even be the reason for the poor showing of the administration party in the last elections.

While that poor showing may be taken as reckoning enough and should therefore make the nation move forward and let sleeping dogs lie, many in the Senate opposition believe that it’s the cue for unraveling what the administration had done in the last presidential election. It’s regarded as the festering wound in the body politic.

As for media not being the proper forum, meaning that the courts are the proper venue, that would be limiting the free discussion of a political problem and a virtual gag on the Senate, which, after all, is a co-equal branch.

For all the faults of media, it’s the only forum for those who feel that the administration can’t be budged from its executive privileges. The media is regarded by the government as its whipping post, but it is actually a wailing wall for a hapless citizenry.

Undoubtedly, FVR is focused on larger issues, such as narrowing the gap between "haves and haves not," which he believes can be addressed by more laws. The problem here again is that the revenue-raising EVAT hurts rather than improves the condition of the poor classes.

As for the stability of government, it only means it is unmoved by controversy. Is that healthy?