"Pro-choice"?

This could merely be laziness on the Inquirer reporter's part, or some cynical wordslinging on the part of the speechwriters working for La Gloria, but somehow, I don't think her slavishly obedient stance on birth control provides us much of any "choice".

In the rest of her statement, Gloria declares that her energies will go to "enlarging the economic pie"... We shall continue to fight for investments, jobs and better tools for people to succeed. We have to change the economy and the political system to fight poverty."

Ahem, but if I'm not mistaken, we need a leader of some courage to implement them all, yes? Believe the bishops when they claim they can inflict a backlash on politicians who don't toe the Church's line; proclaim your loyalty to a foreign government that we Filipinos didn't even elect (for that's what it really amounts to -- Gloria's obedience to the Vatican is no less than cultural colonialism by a foreign power). But don't ever, ever expect us to agree that in that petite body of yours, Ms. Gloria, you have any measure of courage, if you believe the future prosperity of our country has been weighed and found wanting against your present popularity with the bishops.