This political quicksand, as the whole world knows well, did not form overnight. It has been building up from the time she stole the presidency twice in 2001 and 2004. And its development quickened with the infamous "Garci" taped conversations which all the more cast doubt in the public mind about the integrity of that 2004 presidential election.

Of course, Gloria and her phalanx of political cronies and propagandists vehemently denied any massive cheating then even to this very day. But how many of the millions of Filipinos believe them?

They remember when Gloria publicly professed in a Rizal Day speech in 2003 that she would not run for president in 2004. Oh, how noble she seemed then when she proclaimed that she would rather focus on serving the nation. Well, soon enough she turned around and violated her promise. That was the beginning of the erosion of her credibility.

And when senior members of her own Cabinet came to realize that she was more obsessed about staying in power than in good governance, they resigned en masse. They yelled for her resignation, but alas, their sense of moral outrage failed to ignite another display of people power.

Today it's a different story altogether. Two persons who were privy to the multi-million ZTE-NBN scandal bravely came out in the open and blew the whistle. The first whistle blower was quickly subjected to a demolition job that included the unceremonious ouster of his father as Speaker by opportunistic members of the House that has been derisively called the "home of 'representatives'".

It's the second whistleblower who has elicited the sympathy of the nation. Jun Lozada, a virtual "David" dared face the "Goliath" that is the Arroyo administration. Soon after confirming the testimony of the first whistleblower that dragged the names of Arroyo and the First Spouse, and key government officials in the scandalous deal, Lozada has since been lampooned, swamped by insinuations, phoned threats, and he even underwent the agony of being "kidnapped" in the hands of police operatives for hours.

Call Lozada an "actor" when he tearfully narrated his ordeal soon after his arrival from Hong Kong, where he hid himself for fear of his life, when he was forcibly dumped into a waiting vehicle, never even allowed to see his wife and family at the terminal, and driven outside Metro Manila - all against his will. If that was not a case of kidnapping, what was it? Certainly not to give him security! More probably to prevent him from telling the truth of what he knew before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

And so, when Lozada testified under oath that his good friend Romulo Neri, then Director-General of the National Economic Development Authority, had told him repeatedly that "Gloria is evil," how come Neri failed to make a categorical denial? Instead, he said, "I don't remember having said that? How selective can Neri's memory get?

Unfortunately for Gloria Arroyo, one might well say, "Hindi nag-iisa si Jun Lozada"!

The media, particularly the independent print and broadcast, the Management Association of the Philippines, the Financial Executives of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, students and teachers in colleges and universities, Overseas Filipino Workers, former government officials, yes, superiors of Catholic religious communities and leaders of the Catholic clergy and other religious groups, have found common cause with Jun Lozada.

Yes, indeed, there is a gathering storm that Gloria Arroyo and her administration will not be able to stop this time. In the eye of this political storm is the Filipino nation's indignation.

For Malacañang to blithely dismiss the revival of what the Catholic bishops call a "new people power" is to misread the sign of the times. Those now in power and their political, police and military minions, and frantic propagandists are relying on a highly defective barometer.