CHICAGO (JGLi) – Sen. Noynoy Aquino has also Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to thank for, for his ascent to Malacanang.
Noynoy was the main beneficiary of the peoples’ hatred of the Mrs. Arroyo. They don’t want her to stay nano-second longer in the Palace, which would only make the Arroyo-hater meter rise.
And the campaign of Aquino was able to package him as the best legitimate opposition candidate the country could offer by giving him an insurmountable five million lead.
Noynoy was likened to Hale-Bopp comet that comes every four hundred years, like Barack Obama.
The problem with Noynoy and Barack is that the people who voted them into office are venturing into an unknown. Both of them were accused of doing nothing when they were both in the Senate. They were both smokers. Barack was able to kick his smoking habit in exchange of Michelle Obama’s support for his presidential quest.
But Noynoy does not have a Michelle to lean on for personal and emotional advice.
As a wife, Michelle knows only too well the hazards of second-hand smoking that she and her children could inhale from Barack. Second-hand smoke is the leading cause of lung cancer, which has now surpassed breast cancer as the number one cause of death among women.
I used to be a serial smoker myself but I managed to drop my habit by looking up to my role model – my father – who was a non-smoker as my inspiration. When my friends were teasing me that I was having custard corners (the unsightly gunk in corners of my mouth) that turn them off and the stale tobacco smell of my clothes, hair and breath that drives girls away, it was an easy decision for me to give up smoking.
NO SMOKING LOUNGE
It will be hard to imagine if President Noynoy Aquino will find himself in a long-winded ceremony and will beg off for a few minutes in the middle of the ceremony to go to a washroom, where smoking is not allowed.
And Senator Aquino’s pre-proclamation announcement of not rushing his marriage to his pretty girlfriend, Valenzuela’s re-elected councilor Shalani Soledad, will be a blessing in disguise. I and my friend Marlon L. Pecson accidentally met Miss Soledad (please see photo below) lobbying at the Philippine Senate three years before she met Noynoy. Councilor Soledad will be spared from the hazards of second-hand smoke and their children should they get married when they are still within the childbearing years.
The debacle of the Arroyo presidency just assured the Filipino people that an offspring of a former Filipino president is not a guarantee that a candidate with a pedigree of a president will be a better president. Arroyo is a daughter of President Diosdado Macapagal, Noynoy is a son of President Cory Aquino.
As to the acceptance of Noynoy to get together with outgoing President Arroyo in a limousine ride to the inauguration, this should be encouraged, as this is a sign of a magnanimous gesture on his part. It will not hurt if Arroyo would be able to sum up to him the many reasons of her failure in governance that he should be able to easily avoid. This could be a very long ride as she has a long list of mistakes.
NO TO BALIMBINGS
Like what I told the supporters of “U.S. Pinoys for Noynoy-Mar” led by Atty. Loida Nicolas Lewis and Vicky Garchitorena if Noynoy wants a role model in search of his Cabinet and officials running his government, he should follow the lead taken by Barack Obama. Noynoy should first look for candidates to his official family, starting with those who helped in his campaign because they are more familiar with Noynoy’s visions and missions, unlike the Balimbings (turncoats) and the Johnny-Come-Latelies, who could set his government off track.
As probably the first Filipino newsman to have contributed money to a Philippine campaign in the “U.S. Pinoys for Noynoy Mar,” I would suggest that Noynoy should keep his standard of searching for members of his official family with the use of heavy vetting of the candidates’ past, including a good educational background, past business deals, and be people-oriented (sensitive to the peoples’ needs) and disqualify those with bad decisions that could come back to hound him if his search committee messes up.
In his second year in office, Obama is still looking for other positions to fill up.
If Noynoy wants to rise above his mother’s presidency, he should look for a basket of goods that will gauge his presidency. His mother, President Cory, started this off with “galunggong” presidency, by tracking the price of a kilo of galunggong (Mackare Scad) in the local market in the same way that Big Mac price is monitored worldwide. Personally, I used to track purchasing power of gasoline.
In the last 80 years, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of the United States, is measured by purchasing power of potatoes, which did not grow significantly, unlike the purchasing power of eggs, which grew several times.
At the same time, he and his official family should also make public at the start of his presidency and every year thereafter their statements of assets and liabilities to start a government of ATIC – Accountability, Transparency, Integrity and Credibility.
In this way, he should led the country’s “Gross National Happiness” — the living standards, health, education, eco-system diversity and resilience, cultural vitality and diversity, time use and balance, good governance, community vitality and psychological well-being, etc.
Goodspeed!