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In Response to @Cocoy re: Noynoy

October 22nd, 2009 | Elections 2010, Local News, News, Politics |  Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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The 2010 Presidential Elections

There is no greater honor for a blogger like me than be dedicated an entire post as response to one article I've written, specially if it's from no less than one of those bloggers I have great respect for. It doesn't even matter if that blogger disagrees with me or not.

True to his blog's tagline, @cocoy is indeed "conservative in what he says, liberal in what he accepts". If you are a reader who disagrees with most of what I write, please do yourself a favor by reading his response -- he will give you a crash course in  "Disagreeing with Grace 101" and "The Art of Subtle Yet Effective Persuasion". Very nice article, @cocoy. I enjoyed reading it.

And now, to return the favor... :)

I actually wanted to leave a comment there but it turned out longer than his post so in the interest of unwritten net propriety I had to do it here. I apologize in advance for this lengthy post. I do not have the time to edit and make it shorter.

Noynoy Aquino in 2010

The question, I think is not whether Noynoy is too good to be true but rather more on whether he can deliver results as he promises. It is not whether his character is "without reproach" but more on whether his character is strong enough to weather the storms (political and natural) that is sure to continually hit us. It is not whether he is experienced or not. The question is whether experience will "make him" or "break him".

@Cocoy writes:

Perhaps, more than the assertion that Noynoy Aquino is inexperienced, this is something he must overcome. RJ has a point. And she isn't alone. It isn't merely, Noynoy Aquino but more than twenty years of failure by our leaders to lift our people out of poverty. It is like a woman breaking your heart, over and over again. How then do you trust?
Okay, never mind the cheesy analogy there :), @Cocoy drives the point and he drives it hard. I am both thankful and relieved that there are people who "get" my post for what it is "as a whole" and not for parts of it. See, the problem with other people is they either get your thoughts out of context or they don't read everything or they choose which ones to quote and build on that incomplete thought. It's the classic  "The Six Blind Men and the Elephant" analogy. (I first read that story when I was in second grade and I've never forgotten it since then.)
"It isn't merely, Noynoy Aquino but more than twenty years of failure by our leaders to lift our people out of poverty." -- this, my friends, is the whole point of that post. Thank you @cocoy for pointing that out.

Some people would read my post and think, "oh, she's anti-Noynoy!". :) Some people however will see through it and realize something else.

The whole concept of that post is to slap the dreamers floating in mid-air thinking salvation is at hand in the form of one man -- to snap them out of this poetic love affair with "destiny" and make them realize there is "real" work to be done, that this is no "walk in the park". That it isn't just "cool" to want reform -- that in the real world, people are more concerned about food security, decent housing and functional slippers than they are about "branding" in the form of "avatars". I do not mock the avatars. I am a fan of technology, of social media, of the hip n' cool and the "here and now" pop culture. The whole point of the post is to tell you, wonderful people, so passionate and full of conviction-to-the-brim, that these actions -- whatever it is that you pour your time and effort on, must translate to "real world" products needed "here" and "now".

I do not fault Noynoy for that issue on pedigree thrown at him because non-believers can't find any more flaws other than smoking or that so-called high crimes on account of Hacienda Luisita massacre or Mendiola massacre or Lupao massacre. Does a son inherit shortcomings and alleged crimes committed by  his parents? Or on the flip side, does he really inherit their "character"?

One does not choose his parents. It is not his fault if he was lucky to have democracy icons for parents. But I will fault him for it if he consciously and deliberately use this to further ambitions I doubt he even wanted for himself. I will stress this point, the very same people who put Gloria Arroyo in power in that now regretful EDSA 2 are the very same people behind his campaign. What do you make of that? These are business people, they know consumerism, they know how to encourage the youth, they practically run the entire show. They did it once with GMA, they want to do it again. And for what? All in the interest of the big businesses they run. If they claim they do this because they want to help the country, they don't have to meddle with our politics.

If they truly wanted to help, they could just cut costs of products and services and utilities -- these will lighten the burden of the poorest of our society. They can even push it further by practicing that bandwagon of "corporate social responsibility" through close coordination with inefficient and poorly-funded government agencies to facilitate  timely response to calamities etc. If they are industries who produce hazardous wastes -- to invest in and practice proper waste disposal.

The opportunities for  helping the country is endless. But instead, they ram these "politics of change" bs down our throats like we are unthinking and unfeeling drones. Like we have memory lapses. And the sad fact is that we take it @cocoy. We take it because we have no choice. We allowed for this to happen once so many years ago. And now, it's just not that easy to get out of this rut anymore.

I want to believe. I want change. Don't we all?

I believe the next president's task is that Institutional Reform. Everything else falls second. That includes education, a balanced budget--- everything else. The laser focus of the next administration must be to rebuild our institution, to make us trust again.

This will be a challenge because parallel with establishing institutional reforms, we must also take care of the urgent needs of this country. The president will then have to choose between what is important and what is urgent. This may be less difficult if there are no economic constraints, but we know there are and there will be more. I believe you are right and what you propose is ideal, implementing it though, will be  another matter.

How will he translate that character into something awesome?

It is important that Noynoy Aquino needs to get his platform out the door. Right now. Noynoy Aquino must act presidential. Right now. He needs to stand before our people and be seen doing something. If that means he has to be in Mindanao to lay the foundation for brokering peace, he should do it. If it means setting up a relief and rescue network for future disasters to avoid donor fatigue, he has to do it.

Noynoy Aquino must be seen being presidential.

This is a very good suggestion but as Senator, will he not be constrained or limited by his current position to intervene in "peace brokering"? As for setting up a relief and rescue network, that I know he is capable of. He should do that.

I believe Noynoy Aquino is the best hope for this nation because of his character. He doesn't need to convince people like me. Senator Aquino must convince people like RJ to believe again. It is no different from dating, in my humble opinion. People will want to believe but is Noynoy Aquino too good to be true?

The question, I think is not whether Noynoy is too good to be true but rather more on whether he can deliver results as he promises. It is not whether his character is "without reproach" but more on whether his character is strong enough to weather the storms (political and natural) that is sure to continually hit us. It is not whether he is experienced or not. The question is whether experience will "make him" or "break him".

I believe that Institutional Reform is the most important question pressing our republic, more than education, more than health care. Institutional reform means fighting graft and corruption. The first step is to clean out the judiciary, the ombudsman and law enforcement so that when you start cleaning out the department of finance, we can trust that justice be done. I believe it is the key to open the door for the other stuff. I believe to have such credible institutional reform will require the man running the show to have impeccable character. That character is Noynoy Aquino and I think he can establish a government that is honest, that has integrity, that is transparent and for good governance.

Let him do that and more. I will give him the benefit of the doubt so long as he gives us the benefit to doubt him until his platform is laid out for scrutiny.

Finally, let me just say:
If Senator Noynoy Aquino wins, he will be the main actor in this movie with a poorly written script, substandard props, horrible cinematography with the worst soundtrack ever playing in the background. It will take so much effort on his part if only to make up for those poor elements. His best performance may not even register an OK in the mind of the audience. But I would love to see him try. We have 7 months to go before the elections and I am waiting for his platform.

A clear-cut set of actions, propositions etc. (in the form of a political platform) must be laid out as early as now so we can subject it to some level of "testing" for feasibility.

So what exactly do I want Noynoy to be? I want him to denounce, sell, abdicate himself from his well-connected family's business. To announce once and for all that he is true to the promise he makes in completing the work started by his parents -- that he would be a man of the people and not of corporations. That he will not accept funding from anyone else but grassroots organizations. Only then will this be  a genuine "people's campaign". Only then will trust be automatically given and not asked for.

I think his guys must prioritize this now while the "fever" is still high and not wait for the "bride" to have cold feet because of too much waiting. Senator Noynoy Aquino must know that this "bride of a country" is entitled to change her mind. He therefore, must always be on his toes before elections, and if he wins, for at least six years.

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1 comment so far ↓

#1   disenchanted001 on 11.18.09 at 7:27 AM

in remembrance of the hacienda luisita massacre victims
http://snipsandstuff.blogspot.com/

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