Aquino administration is losing its moral ascendancy

The more time it takes for the De Lima Commission to finish its investigation on the botched August 23 hostage crisis, the more harm this incident does on the Aquino administration. The endless finger-pointing, the fake breast-beating and the refusal of Aquino's Cabinet men to take the responsibility and tender their irrevocable resignation letters have all been criticized largely as signs of weakness on the part of the President.

Fact is, this hostage taking crisis which ended in a tragedy last August 23, has turned the tables against this government. The hostage taker has taken the entire country hostaged.

IN just one incident, the government of President Aquino has been effectively weakened. Worse, it did not take an armed or concerted effort on the part of the president's traditional enemies to actually weaken his government. Aquino's government is slowly self-destructing or in the minds of some analysts, self-destabilizing.

This is a very bad sign.

A weak government is helpless against the strong lobbying power of entreprises, be it legal or illegal. A slowly destabilizing government will again, fail in its mission to rid itself of the scourge of graft and corruption, just like what happened to the previous regime. And a weaker still government will not be as effective in protecting the very welfare of the People it vowed to help improve its condition.

Worse, a government which loses its moral standi lies naked in the eyes of its enemies, vulnerable and ready to be defeated any single time.

Shortly after the hostage crisis, the issue was weak leadership. Now, the issues have taken another form, and it is now the moral ascendancy or should I say, the moral leadership of this administration that is being questioned.

The issue on who will tender his resignation first is not a political issue. It is a moral issue. And when a government is now being accused of abandoning its earlier promises of growth through moral recovery, this is a sign not just of a weak political leadership but of a slowly eroding public trust on the capability of this government to effectively discern what are the right things to do when faced with extremely difficult situations.

If this administration loses its moral standing, how will it then face the grafters of the former regime? What right would it have to demand reparations from the years of neglect and thievery of the past dispensation when it now stands accused of being unable to dispense a moral judgment over a very simple issue such as this?

President Aquino should at least show sincerity by doing what his mother, the former President Cory Aquino did.

During the first few days of her administration, a rift ensued between her and his former defense secretary Juan Ponce-Enrile.

Enrile, at the time, perceived as a strong man and hero of EDSA, questioned the very credibility and competence of the first Aquino administration.

When push comes to shove, Aquino did the politically unthinkable---she fired Enrile. I still remember that photo of Enrile going down the steps of Malacanang.

Aquino's act was not just a political act but a moral one. She was defending the fledgling democracy which was being questioned at that time, for its moral ascendancy.

Now, will the son follow the footsteps of his great mother? Mr. President, it is now time for you to address this domestic issue before you leave for the United States.

Again, let the People tell their desires:

1. For you to fire Undersecretary Rico Puno for incompetence and conflict of interest. (He is a gun runner or a supplier of arms and ammo. Why would you appoint somebody who has a commercial interests in the police force as your DILG undersecretary?)

2. Fire Ricky Carandang and Sonny Coloma and replace  them with more competent communication managers to handle your information needs.

We rest our case.

President Noynoy: Sack those responsible for the hostage taking

Yes, I recognize that we are all angry against the present Aquino administration for its continued inaction. I mean, I understand that the probe especially on multiple homicide cases like these would take at least two weeks.

Yet, this administration is misinterpreting what the public really wants---the sacking of those responsible for the mishandling of the hostage negotiations.

The Public does not need to read a CSI report on the hostage crisis. We all saw what happened. It is so stupid to read the headline "Hostage victims died due to bullet wounds" when every single one of us saw already what transpired during those 12 critical hours.

The Filipino People want a different approach in the handling of a crisis. If, during the GMA administration, it took a while for GMA to even make a decision on her factotums and even issued an Executive Order to protect the asses of her corrupt men, Filipinos expect a different thing in this administration.

President Benigno Aquino promised not to tolerate erring members of his Cabinet. He promised a road that is straight, not crooked.

It is time for him to really mean what he says, and not just say it because it sounds wonderful to the ears of many.

Time for this administration to really commit itself to change. Time for it to really act like true agents of change and true professionals.

It is equally humiliating to know that those who continually lambast the former dispensation for its perceived inaction and ineptitude are now those who now show equal ineptitude and ineffectiveness.

If change is what we seek, then, we must be the change movers.

After two weeks, what will Aquino report to his HK counterparts? That the reason why it bungled the hostage negotiations was there is an ongoing spat among groups within his administration?

Noynoy Aquino's smile and sorry seems to be an empty word

The controversial "smile" of RP President Noy Aquino

Had an expert communications guy accompanied President Noynoy Aquino when he first visited the "crime scene" a few hours after the clearing operations at the Quirino Grandstand, Aquino would not have "smiled". That "smile" earned the ire of thousands, even millions of Hongkongers who were closely watching the story unfold in Manila. 

Aquino, the head of state of our government, would not have issued an apology later on. 

Compare Aquino's demeanor with that of Hongkong Chief Executive Donald Tsang. Tsang acts were presidential. Ours, well, is definitely wanting.

What is so humiliating are the acts of our government shortly after the incident. Our Communication secretary Ricky Carandang tried to justify the absence of his principal by saying that the President deemed it wise not to communicate with his Hongkong counterpart and just do it shortly afterwards.

Carandang said, a Malacanang aide failed to give Aquino the phone when Tsang called. Imagine that. The entire country was in the state of shock and in agitation, and the President is nowhere to be found. Fact is, during the crisis, Carandang issued a statement saying that Malacanang deemed it wise not to take part in the resolution of the issue, saying that it was just a "local matter". Wow.

What is also a letdown is this smile by the president. Some people were reminded of the vicious psychiatric reports which appeared during the elections, insinuating that Noynoy Aquino suffered from certain mental problems before. That "smile", as reports say, provoked those memories.

And again, that "smile" elicited another sorry statement. How many sorries do we expect to get from this administration? That each and every time this government says sorry, we will just shrug it off and continue on with our lives?

When presidential spokesperson Ed Lacierda said "sorry" for misintepreting the first official act of this administration, everyone forgave him. When Education secretary Luistro said sorry, everybody says it was just a neophyte blunder.

But when you're two months already in the job, and things remain the same, and a serious incident like this happen, sorry, it seems, is definitely not enough anymore.

Is this government sorry for still allowing smugglers and corrupt Customs men to do their illicit acts, as admitted by Finance secretary Cesar Purisima. Purisima admitted in national radio (DZMM) that there are still smugglers doing their thing at Customs. What is Customs chief Alvarez doing? And why is Purisima allowing Alvarez to still keep his job?

Are we just to accept the sorry of DPWH secretary Babes Singson for allowing corrupt DPWH men to still get hefty commissions from poor road construction of their preferred contractors?

There is a limit in saying sorry.

Fact is, we Filipinos believe that the more you say "sorry", the more you really do not mean that you're truly sorry.

We are in a very sorry state. Fact is, our government right now just issues sorries and then still do the same thing. How much harm do we have to take from this government before we really tell ourselves that we are really sorry for supporting it?

Hostage-Taking in Manila: Heads must roll and the "Sorry" Administration

Instead of believing what he said, I just shook my head after what Communications secretary Sonny Coloma told Anthony Taberna this morning at Umagang Kay Ganda.

Coloma is trying to put the blame to the former government. He is, in Public Relations, deflecting the issue. He is putting all the blame to the Arroyo administration, starting with saying that those who managed the hostage-taking situation in Manila were all former Arroyo generals.

Oh, come on. What a very flimsy and very stupid way of deflecting the issue.

We, the People, are all tired of the usual alibi of this administration. It has been more than two months already and people are tired of hearing this administration blaming the last one for the maladies of the present.

Why not ADMIT the following:

1. The Aquino administration should admit that, like the Philippine National Police, it also erred in judgment. The fact that Communications secretary Ricky Carandang said at that time that Malacanang is letting the local authorities resolve the situation clearly shows that the national government, despite the involvement of foreign tourists, considered the situation so "local", they just shrugged it all off.

Carandang should be fired from his job, pronto. He does not know what he is doing and I put the blood of those who died in his hands.

He should not do a Pontius Pilate and say that he does not have a part in this. He, like the rest of the Cabinet members who under-reacted, should tender their resignation for ineptitude.

Same goes to Coloma. Coloma should not try to deflect. Just admit that even the palace erred and assure the people that all is well and is trying to remedy the procedures.