Shocked and awed by Antonio C. Abaya

Manila Standard

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Shocked and awed

by Antonio C. Abaya

Shocked and awed I was by the announcement the other night of Senator Mar Roxas that he was giving way to Senator Noynoy Aquino’s candidacy for president in the May 2010 elections.

The two had apparently been meeting —three times—over the previous weekend during which Noynoy told Mar that he wanted to run for the presidency. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Sept. 2).

So Noynoy’s announcement that he was going on spiritual retreat with the Pink Sisters, to “discern” whether to run or not, was disimulado, meaning it was faked. He had already made up his mind (to run) when he started talking to Mar.

He just wanted media and the public to recall his mother Cory Aquino’s spiritual retreat with the Pink Sisters in 1986, preparatory to her decision to run in the snap elections.. It is part of the political theater of Edsa 1 Part 2, deliberately choreographed to stoke the Yellow Fever epidemic, to make sure that the Cory Magick rubs off on Noynoy, in the absence of any significant achievement that he can call his own in the past 11 years that he was a legislator.

And it has worked to a T! Congratulations to the court magicians.

Said Senator Mar in his “giving way” announcement: “Noy has made it clear to me that he wants to carry the torch of leadership. The parting of our beloved President Cory has reawakened a passion among us.

“I see this as fuel to bring us to the realization of our dreams. Good will win over evil. Noynoy and I want to make a difference, but we also know that we need to unite to achieve what we want.”

What DO we want? I, for one, want a national leadership that is not only scrupulously honest, but one that knows how to conceptualize and implement correct economic policies and strategies to create the jobs and economic opportunities necessary for an exploding population.

One that is prepared to moderate that exploding population. And one that is not shy or hesitant about using the full force of the law to punish lawbreakers and outlaws. And one that knows how to negotiate with malcontents from a position of strength, while it addresses the causes and sources of their discontent. And one that has a credible vision for the future, not a cloying nostalgia for the past.

By these criteria, Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore and Gen Park Chung Hee of South Korea come closest to my ideal leadership for the Philippines, give or take a few amendments to conform to Philippine culture and idiosyncrasies.

By these same criteria—although I was one of the first (in June 1985) to ask her to run for president—Cory Aquino subsequently did not measure up to my ideal leadership for this country, whatever her qualities may have been as a Walking Saint, a Fountainhead of Everlasting Love, and an Icon of Liberal Democracy.

It takes more than personal honesty, public displays of piety, and motherhood statements about democracy to build a successful country. And, I hasten add, it would take more than a martyred father, an iconic mother, and a star-bright sister to make Noynoy a credible reformer of a dysfunctional society such as ours.

I think Senator Mar made a mistake in giving way to Senator Noynoy. I didn’t think Mar would be razzle-dazzled by Magick, but that was his call, and he has live with it. The earth-shaking question that has to be answered now would be: will the fair Korina still agree to wed him in October, now that her chances of becoming First Lady have gone with the wind?

I realize that Mar was doing a Doy Laurel in giving way to Noynoy. But would Mar’s statesmanlike gesture make much of a difference?

Manny Villar, Erap Estrada and Noli de Castro are polling much higher than Mar, and Noynoy has not yet been inputted in the surveys. When the September and subsequent survey results come out, we will see how much pulling power Noynoy really has, and how long he can maintain that pulling power, given the glaring absence of any significant achievements in the past and any vision for the future.

It’s a long way to Tipperary in May 2010. Eight months and five days, to be exact. Compared to the less than two months that his mother Cory Aquino had in 1985-86. People have short memories. Charisma cannot be inherited.

In the meantime, I would pay some attention to the alleged team-up of Senator Richard Gordon and business tycoon Manny Pangilinan, as reported in the Philippine Star.

This could be a formidable pair. Both are action-oriented executives with many solid achievements in their bio-data, Gordon in the government sector, Pangilinan in the business sector. Gordon has tons of charisma; Pangilinan has tons of money. Earned by both in the school of hard-knocks, not inherited from Papa and Mama and Kid Sister.

They can and will shock and awe the business and professional communities. But they have to learn how to shock and awe the middle class and the squealing masa.

*****

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