By the way, I was a PNoy supporter when he ran for
presidency and I have passionately debated on his behalf with his detractors
here on Facebook. I believed then that his lack of political achievement as a
senator and was even caught dozing off few times during senate hearing, will
not matter if his heart is in the right place. Shortly after he was sworn in,
the Luneta hostage crisis happened and he was reportedly hiding at Emerald
restaurant instead of going out there and taking leadership. I thought that
maybe since he was new to his position he was a little distracted and not
knowing what to do. So I never voiced out any criticism on him for the first
two and a half years of his presidency. But several faux pas after that, I can
no longer stand by and keep quiet. So I became one of his vocal critics.
By: Marlene D. Howe
July 2, 2014
Let's be fair and review some of the promises he made during
the campaign such as:
1. Kung walang korap, walang Mahirap. Did he deliver that
promise?
2. What about, Tuwid na daan? Did he deliver that promise?
3. What about, Kayo ang Boss ko? Did he listen to the
people? Didn't he collude with Malaysia against the majority of voices of the
people in and out of social media to stand up to Malaysia and reclaim Sabah for
the country and for our Muslim kababayans who were slaughtered in Sabah? Didn't
he echo Najib's rhetoric instead of standing by the Sulu Sultanate? Malaysia
even used the airline owned by PNoy's cousin to transport their soldiers to
Sabah to kill our kababayans from the Sulu Sultanate.
4. What about the funds intended for the military family
that his trusted adviser, Butch Abad withheld and later found its way to the
president's DAPS? Butch Abad should have been fired right after when his
wrongdoing was exposed. I just found out about this yesterday from the wall of Admiral
Juan A. Deleon.
5. Didn't PNOY use PDAF as bribe for senators to insure a
conviction on Corona?
6. Didn't we lose Scarborough or Panatag Shoal because of
the president's ineptitude and naiveté?
7. With regard to
DAP, he knew it was wrong and only for him to give a lame excuse that he should
not be criticized because he used it for the good of the people. NO ONE IS
ABOVE THE LAW, NOT EVEN THE PRESIDENT! He did an illegal thing consciously and
he cannot just use ignorance as an excuse.
8. The infamous "Framework Agreement" is another
example of the president's naiveté when he rushed into a peace agreement with
one faction MILF but took the rest of other factions and tribes out of the
equation. The result was more chaos and bloodshed starting with the Zamboanga
siege. Do you call this peace agreement when other tribes have vowed to fight
for their right to self-determination? Can you call this success?
9. Lastly, from what I can think of for now, there were
corruptions unfolding under his administration like the BOC when he accepted
the resignation of General Lim who was the only person surrounded with sharks
and crocodiles who attempted to clean up the Bureau of Customs. But he did not
accept the resignation of BOC's top dog, Raffy Biazon when he was the one
in-charge of the whole agency and Gen. Lim was only a second in command. He did
not even fire the well-known "Three Kings" of smuggling at BOC. Why?
Is it because one of them is under Speaker Belmonte's protection?
The economy might be growing a little bit but the general
population does not feel it. There are so many little things that are wrong
under the president's watch but I can't enumerate all of them. But one thing I
can say about the latest brouhaha when he let his personal feelings get in the
way of a business decision is, IT'S ALL BS to exclude Nora Aunor for the
National Artist award because of Ms. Aunor's drug conviction of which she took
responsibility and learned from it. But the fact that she has considerable
contribution to the Arts and she made her own success through old-fashion hard
work and sheer talent are things that no one can deny. PNoy's excuse of Ms.
Aunor's past is LAME and UNFAIR. Are all the previous awardees saints? Who
knows, they are babaero, palainom, sugarol, drug users and whatever discretions
they might have. But they were recognized based on their contribution to the
Arts. It should be the same for Nora Aunor. I wonder if he would do the same
thing if it's Kris Aquino who's in the running. The whole Philippines know of
Kris cohabiting with few men without legal or religious sanction.
Marlene Howe is co-Founder and Administrator of the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum and of the Defenders of Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims community as well as an administrator of this blog. Ms Howe is US based but keeps a home in the Philippines.
