Well, if I have a malicious mind, I would have said that the calls for rejection of calls for Gloria Arroyo’s resignation are well-coordinated (as much as calls for Arroyo’s resignation are not, since everyone but your friendly dogs are calling for her to resign anyway).

I just find it curious. Is it deliberate?

Eighteen bishops rejected the call of three of their brethren for Arroyo to resign. And now, 30 governors, via their League of Provinces of the Philippines, got out of their way to take out full-page ads in major newspapers asking for an end to resign-Arroyo moves. I am quoting the ad in full (bear with me please):

Stop the Political Noise, Focus on Economic Growth
Certain quarters are capitalizing on a trumped-up incident at Malacañang last October 11 to resurrect their ludicrous call for President Arroyo to step aside halfway through her constitutional term of office.

Their recycled call for a national-leadership change is certainly an absurd one at this point, given that no such incident of alleged impropriety had taken place at the Palace to warrant the President’s resignation. If anything, their shrill demand for the Chief Executive to step down for no logical reason at all has only accentuated the farcical nature of their cause and is testament to why their ilk has increasingly been marginalized and cut off from the Filipino majority long smarting from an overdose of divisive politics in our midst.

President Arroyo’s resignation is something our nation neeeds like a hole in the head. We, the officers and members of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), believe that our country needs the President now more than ever to remain at the helm of Government so she can pursue further structural reforms that are necessary to keep our now robust economy on its high growth course.

The outrageous stories about money changing hands during the formal meeting between President Arroyo and LPP officers and members last week have besmirched not only our collective integrity as the country’s chief provincial executives but also that of the Chief Executive herself as the paramount leader of our nation.

It is regrettable that the level of distrust and cynicism in our society has plunged to such depths that these fictitious reports have taken a life of their own as gospel truth – and have unjustly smudged us and Palace executives as the collective personal of transactional politics that opposition and certain civil society leaders claim to plague Government.

We reiterate what our officers have said when news about this Malacañang incident first broke out last week: we did not, as a whole, receive cash gifts from any Palace functionary during or after that Oct. 11 meeting, let alone get any instruction from anybody to oppose a third attempt in the House of Representatives to impeach President Arroyo.

We believe that we have been elected to our current local government positions on the strength of our respective constituents’ faith in our competence, integrity and independence. We certainly have not betrayed, and do not intend to betray, this electoral mandate by kowtowing to anybody or sacrificing our principles for any monetary incentive.

Our wholehearted support for President Arroyo and her administration is founded on her unwaivering commitment to genuine local autonomy, as underlined by, among others, her “super regions” strategy and such budgetary outlays as the Kilos Asenso and Kalayaan funds that will truly empower local government units and spur countryside development. In fact, we were at the Palace on Thursday last week to discuss with the President the progress if projects supportive of the “super regions”.

Hence, there is no need for the Executive Department to win us over in this new impeachment episode for we are neither members of the House nor Senate whose votes are needed to impeach or, later, convict the President.

We are hoping this declaration will finally put this non-issue to rest and allow not only us elective officials but all other sectors as well to get back to the urgent business at hand, which is to work together with President Arroyo in sustaining and accelerating the growth of our economy.

The signatories are:

Erlpe John Amante, Agusan del Norte
Erico Aumentado, Bohol
Natalio Beltran III, Romblon
Eustaquio Bersamin, Abra
Douglas Cagas, Davao del Sur
Jose Antonio Carrion, Marinduque
Telesporo Castillejos, Batanes
Aurora Cerilles, Zamboanga del Sur
Luisa Cuaresma, Nueva Viscaya
Maximo Dalog, Mountain Province
Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte
Ben Evardone, Eastern Samar
Orlando Fua Jr, Siquijor
Enrique Garcia, Bataan
Gwendolyn Garcia, Cebu
Sally Lee, Sorsogon
Emilio Macias II, Negros Oriental
Suharto Mangudadatu, Sultan Kudarat
Loreto Leo Ocampos, Misamis Occidental
Arnan Panaligan, Oriental Mindoro
Vicente Pimentel Jr, Surigao del Sur
Ma. Valentina Plaza, Agusan del Sur
Jesus Sacdalan, North Cotabato
Josephine Sato, Occidental Mindoro
Deogracias Victor Savellano, Ilocos Sur
Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr, Camarines Sur
Geraldine Villaroman, Dinagat Island
Victor Yap, Tarlac
Rolando Yebes, Zamboanga Del Norte

Between Ed Panlilio and these… stooges, I go for Panlilio.

What do you think?