Lately I’ve noticed that we are getting more and more of our updates on the President’s whereabouts, views, and positions on some important matters of state from the Entertainment sections of our venerable newspapers. Most recent was the revelation that President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III was at a party “laughing at [the] jokes†and “enjoying [the] performance†of Filipino starlet Valerie Concepcion.
Considering the renowned bloat and track record of snafus associated with the “Communications” Team of Malacañang, it is not surprising that the Philippines’ showbiz industry is slowly filling the credibility gap. One of the main components of this gap is the loud silence the President had so far delivered on the matter of the appalling death and devastation wrought by Typhoon Sendong upon the northern Mindanao cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Although the presidential staff had in recent days reportedly “fought off accusations that [the President] was partying with starlets” as the disaster unfolded, Filipinos have yet to hear directly from the man himself.
What we do get for now are the appeals coming from presidential sisters Kris Aquino, Pinky Aquino-Abellada and Ballsy Aquino-Cruz. Led by showbiz megastar Kris, the sisters defended their brother the President from the “flak” he had been copping from a public apparently furious over what seems to be a callousness in the way he had been regarding the tragedy.
Over the popular morning television show Kris TV the Aquino sisters took the opportunity presented by that show’s multi-million-strong audience to clarify that the President harboured intentions to visit Cagayan de Oro sometime in the future and that the Presidential Security Group and Management Staff were discussing that intention. They also emphasized that the party Noynoy graced had been scheduled far in advance.
Ballsy added that bad things that make people sad do happen but that “life should go on”. Life, she said in Tagalog, cannot just stop and sulking will not help at all.
Kris ultimately delivered what seemed to be the bottom line — that “critics should give the President and their family a break.”
To be fair, I believe these are all reasonable requests — except that the President did not say these himself and in a timely manner. Unfortunately for him, the Media, bloggers, and the armchair commentators beat him to the punch and did that job for him. What is now an attempt to “communicate” on the part of Noynoy’s harried staff and tear-jerking showbiz sisters now comes across as a pathetic pile of half-baked damage control measures.
Tough luck. Unlike with the other things that don’t go in a way aligned to the President’s personal liking, there is no impeachable scapegoat in this fiasco other than… well, I’ll leave my smart readers to figure that one out.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
using the triumvarate on a tv show to deliver propaganda is not acceptable, with the audience ? somewhat reluctanly – applauding when chided/chivvied by kris.
have a discussion by all means and make your point but on a talk show have a balanced perspective. all on one side is bad tv, unethical and just brainwashing the masses. no surprise there then. come on, give the people a break – let them speak and stop lecturing.
They are already getting too desperate to defend their bald brother.
This won’t end well for this administration.
Public outrage is growing
The end is near….
“the end is near”
Bye bye Noynoy, say “Hi” to Kim Jong-il for us. >:D
Wla propaganda yan. Importnte tulungan ntn si Kris sa mga nsalanta ng bgyo, at mgdonate dn tayo sa sagip kpmilya.
Propaganda my ass.
Nakikita na ng mga tao na ang incompetency ng tito noy mo.
Hindi niya pwedeng sisihin ang mga judges o si GMA dito dahil kasalanan talaga niya ito.
gunggong
Magdodonate ako, pero sa Red Cross (o sa mga religious organizations) na lang ako magdodonate. Just sayin’.
Childish comment is childish vincensus ignoramus. Sorry but I prefer donating my money to the Philippine National Red Cross than your lopez oligarch mafia-owned sagip kapamilya for fear of red tape. Besides, Richard Gordon works for PNRC and he’s the president that we should have had because that man moves his ass immediately with haste to help those who really needs help than your slowpoke precious president who actually doesn’t give a damn.
Oops it’s Philippine Red Cross or PRC.
Ulul, Mas gusto ko pa magdonate sa kapuso foundation kaysa sa sagip KAPALmukha na network na iyan.
You can’t handle the truth about your tito noy.
Face it vincenzo, Your tito noy’s days at malacanang are numbered
magdonate ako, but never under her name or show or whatever she in.
BOBO!
Ok, i think most of us already know this. No need to waste space here stating the obvious, plez.
Noy Aquino is an elected President of the Philippines.He can always make his time to visit the devastated area caused by sendong typhoon anytime. My point is, what were his priorities,obviously in my opinion should be the victims of typhoon sendong. We can’t control mother nature, but I expect PAGASA who monitors weather should be partly to be blamed. I don’t have any inclination how Philippines weather station do there task, but what I know they should be manning it 24 hours a day. If only one of them had spotted a typhoon approaching the island,they could at least alerted the locals. I can’t begin to fathom, to see people died while sleeping because they don’t have any idea, a killer floods is rushing in. Number of deaths is beyond me, I can’t begin to digest a so called “electronics equipt” country didn’t managed to save lives that are more important. 🙁
You can’t blame PAGASA because they were doing their job. Ikaw siguro ang hindi nakikinig sa balita. Ilang ulit na binalaan ng PAGASA ang mga tao na may paparating na bagyo and its signal 2. It was announced a week before the tragedy but then suddenly the people was reluctant enough and didn’t expect na tataas ng tataas ang tubig kasi no’ng Bagyong Ondoy ay hindi naman masyado ang damage. May mga residente ngang pinalipat ng lugar dahil nga sa bagyo pero hindi sila naniwala. I think we should stop blaming others but try to think if what you can do for others. Be men and women for others,huwag puro satsat.
Anong msma don? Marami lng tlga ngmamahal ky Tito Noy. At may inaasikaso syang mga mas importanteng bagay
More important?
Anung importante sa party??
Ang buhay ng mga tao sa CDO ay mas importante keysa sa party na iyan.
Wag mong idadamay si gloria dito, wla siyang kinalaman.
kasi alam ko na isisisi mo nanaman si GMA kahit wala kang ebidensya na may kinalaman si GMA
Akala mo lang yan pero nagagalit na ang taong bayan sa tito noy mo
gunggong
Papangunahan ni Tito Noy ang pgbbgay ng relief goods. Kta m ang sipag tlga
Naunahan pa siya ni Binay sa pagpunta doon
Kta mo ang tamad talaga.
Yes. Ganyan si PNoy puro pakikipagaway kay GMA at CORONA ginagawa. mabuti sana kung first time nya gawin toh, kaya lang kapag may disaster lagi syang late.
TRUE! Masipag si noy magpa-photo-op…naman!
Vincenzo, you are pathetic. You sound like the village idiot. Are you on medication? Do yourself a favor, don’t skip taking them.
Naunahan pa siya ni Gordon at ng Red Cross,nagbigay na nga ng water filtration system e. Si Pnoy pababa pa lang ng chopper, iniisip na magiging center of attraction siya dun instead na isipin kelangan niyang pumunta para magplano sa recovery effort.
Mas maraming meron galit kay abNoy. Eh si abNoy, ang mahal lang ata nyan ay ang kanyang mga KKK at kanilang ari-arian. Alang silbi talaga etong si abNoy!
Kahit na marami munang tumigil sa kanilang mga gawain at abala upang makiramay sa ama nilang si Ninoy at ina nilang si Cory, at kahit na hinirang pa syang pangulo dahilan sa simpatya ng tao sa kanila, etong sila abNoy wala manlang kusang-loob na makiramay din sa mga namatayan, ganun pang buong pamilya mula lolo/lola hangga’t mga apong sanggol ang binawian ng buhay…tsk, tsk, tsk. Alang silbi talaga etong si abNoy! Puro palabas lang! Halata naman. Walang natutunguhan ang malasakit ninyo sa pamilyang abNoy! Pabayaan niyo na mga lintek na yan!
If we could draw a thought bubble on the photo-op Noynoy will probably get splashed on the Inquirer.net after his visit to CDO, it will probably have the text “Hacienda Luisita” in it.
Childish comment is childish vincensus ignoramus. Sadly, their love on your precious president turns into vain when they died. And is that what you call a working president? Family first before the people who voted and trusted him? Hell, even Jesus Himself will say “F U for ruining my birthday” to those aquino scumbags.
what’s more important that being hit by a Tropical Storm? kunsabagay, your Tito Baldy is very sanay na on things like that kaya he’s partying it out to drown the horror.. kamalas-malasan lang nya, merong isang taga-showbiz na hindi alam ang definition ng confidentiality o kahit discreetness man lang.. try nyo tumira dito sa Iligan, just feel the people’s spirit tapos sa isang iglap biglang mawawala just because of some “delayed” weather bulletin.. alam mo anong oras dumating ang lecheng weather bulletin na ‘yan? 9:00 PM on the 16th of December..
nung oras na ‘yon, wala nang kuryente dito sa Iligan.. at dawn, biglang magtataasan ang tubig hindi namin alam kung saan nanggaling bakit sobrang dami and sobrang bilis; not to mention the gigantic logs that destroyed 1 of the two main bridges, logs that claimed lives of people and lots of innocent children, and logs that claimed properties na katas ng mga paghihirap ng mga tao dito..
as of this moment, marami pa rin ang tulala dito.. hindi malaman ang gagawin, kung saan magsisimula, kung sinong kamag-anak ang unang hahanapin, ipapalibing, bibigyan ng mas matinding atensyon.. FOR YOUR INFORMATION MR. ARELLANO, HINDI LANG INDIVIDUALS ANG MGA MISSING DITO SA ILIGAN AND CDO.. THEY ARE IN BUNCH OF FAMILIES.. FAMILIES NA HINDI NAMIN ALAM KUNG BUHAY PA BA O PATAY NA O KUNG NASAAN; KUNG SAAN SILA NA-WASH-OUT NG MALAKAS NA AGOS NG TUBIG..
do tell what’s more important that attending to that crisis? would the storm stop for a second and consider the things more important to your Tito Baldy?
que se hodang ilang taong pinagplanuhan ang party na ‘yan.. you say like it’s no big deal.. sure, granted that it may not be.. pero kung sa family mo nangyari ang nangyari dito sa Iligan, sa family namin, mas gugustuhin mo nalang anurin ka ng tubig and be crushed by colliding logs in the process..
and kung may konsensya ka, assuming meron, the next time magco-comment ka ng napaka-insensitive, try putting yourself in our shoes.. try mo lang i-imagine.. manood ka ng CNN.. ewan ko lang kung hindi ka matauhan.. Pilipino ka pa man ding naturingan..
BOBO!!
The 3 witches try to cast their spell whilst child-boy p-noy plays, parties, plots revenge on his enemies, and fights to preserve hacienda luisita.
He clearly never read the job description for president.
More reasons for us to vote for anti-Aquino candidates come 2013 and 2016.
The Haciendero Regime must be neutered.
that bald-headed-freak has BALLSY but has no BALLS.. he has PINKY, but all he cares is THUMBSUCKING while out partying.. he has KRIS, but doesn’t know what a CHRISTIAN really is.. ang kapal ng mukha magpakita dito sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo.
its not just the people.
makati business is waking up to the impact
of making clark the international hub
(? and a new business centre in tarlac – the strategic importance of hacienda luisita)
i bet vp binay is not in support of NAIA transfer.
wish some-one would ask him.
MBC is a powerful group.
“except that the President did not say these himself and in a timely manner.”
Am I correct in interpreting this as “he needs to grow a pair?”
HEY JOE AMERICA! see all this? wake up and see what your idol has done for his countrymen.
pnoy has done nothing for the people of cagayan de oro. worse, he partied rather than attend to his people. he’s surrounded by liars in his own camp who couldn’t get their story straight. his sisters feel desperate enough to have to rescue him from the probability that the masses are waking up and starting to notice that the emperor is really in his birthday suit. the sh*t hiteth the fan, joe! i know you are out there reading this, and i know that deep inside you’re a reasonable guy who just got blinded by a popular idiot’s hypnotic and shiny yellow head that you just wanna rub all day.
wake up, buddy. you’re not in kansas anymore.
hi auriga.
yeah.
danglers.
he’s gotta grow ’em.
didn’t have them during the bus hostage massacre.
still don’t have ’em now.
he’s chicken. and he’s yellow.
The Green lantern film said that
YELLOW is the color of FEAR.
Let’s take down AbNoy’s Sinestro Corps by assembling our AVENGERS. 🙂
@anonymous: indeed. it’s the yellow impurity that renders green lanterns’ rings useless. yellow stinks.
@daido: supreme court avengers might work. sc avengers unite! hmmm. that didn’t sound right. 😛
basta to me, pnoy is PBRAIN.
short for partybrain. or peabrain.
haha
all roads lead to hacienda luisita – and if cojuangco gets his way, all flightpaths also
from ballsy’s hacienda farmers being “spoiled” to kris’ perpetual pleas for privacy (after broadcasting to all and sundry their dirty linen) and now this. i don’t know if this family is insensitive or just plain clueless but one thing is for sure, they are so damn full of themselves.
I so agree with you, ici.
The only job of a vp is to attend weddings and funerals, and check each morning if the president is still alive. Job done.
It leaves lots of time for plotting and planning as you covet the top job.
Binay is staying out of trouble, getting brownie points with people, marshalling his troops, organising a senatorial slate for 2013, making the right contacts here and abroad, and even attending courses at harvard.
Watching , and waiting, and most probably laughing to himself.
Scary thought. This country has a LOT to learn.
Just saw the news from ABS-CBN last night. People in CDO have a short supply of food, water, clothing and no settlement. This has been going on for days. Is this really the speed of disaster coordination we have? Where did our taxes go?
And all we hear from the politicians and celebrities are excuses and finger-pointing. Philippines is really a banana republic. Monkeys would make a better nation.
We should pray for the people in CDO.
UY! TOTOO YUN! I AGREE WITH CENZO…madami shang inaasikasong mas importanteng bagay tulad na lang ng pag lalaro ng video games with Josh…mas importante un, in fairness!!!
@SK
Lol, ain’t that the truth.
Well said bro
From these, I could predict what shall happen next.. The yellows will blame someone for not having regulated logging businesses (legal or illegal) on the adjacent forests surrounding CDO and Iligan; Someone has to be blamed by the yellows why there has to be a government housing project near the river in CDO where several people died in that place.. and these shall lead the Senate towards the doorsteps of the Previous Administration.. Hehehe. Just a prediction, though, basing on the thinking manner of the Yellows.
Ganda ng smile ni noy habang namimigay ng relief goods…malamang akala nya christmas party na naman pinuntahan nya…
Now the sisters have to be deployed, his inept communications people aren’t enough it seems, says a lot about his choice of people (ie, his friends, his mother’s friends and security men-eg. DOD sec, new army chief-, his friends’ friends and/or family-eg. DOST sec is bro-in-law of Ochoa, etc). Going back to the sisters, their gall to take advantage of the showbiz sister’s show! And we all thought they have class. Turns out they are as callous and insensitive and matapobre.
Things like these definitely shows that the Philippines sucks…
President must have pu*sy; Mindanao typhoon diverted him from that quest. No wonder he’s upset.
Budoy is man-child, incorrigible delinquent. When Cotabato was flooded, national government was so inept in handling the crisis. The mayor of the city was mad at him. Relief came 3 weeks after the flooding. When Davao was flooded, he was nowhere to be found. Again, it was Binay who visited our city. Then there was Bulacan. Again, palpak! and Now this! Worse, nagparty. And his 3 sisters? I think narcissism runs in their family. They cannot take criticism very well that they have to pare every attack on their brother. They are so out of touch din. Mga elitista kung umasta! Si kris ang panalo sa pagkasira ulo. Narcissist. Histrionic. OC. Kunwari tulong sa nasalanta, eh di mo nga pwede kausapin yan if you shoot a commercial with her, kun ikaw ang extra. Bawal kausapin kundi ka niya kausapin. Bawal tingnan. yuko ka lang. Tapos ngayon, concerned. Ipokrita!
the least they could do is apologize///mga walang pakiramdam…Tito Noy is so abnoy, bawal daw ang media kasi bka makunan n nman na nkangiti at tulo laway..camera shy? …shy my ass…Vincenzo B. Arellano…ur a FFFFFFFFFAKE! yung mag sinasabi ni Vinzenzo…pls ignore///he doesn’t exist……I even asked him to email me and connect…ayoko na magcomment…but…he’s not real…he’s anti Panot too…andito sya just to excite the reader and provoke……ignore and don’t acknowledge him…wag kayong paloloko…
Naisip ko rin ‘yan based on Vicenzo guy’s comments.
KAYO ANG BOSS KO are the words of manipulations always used by PNoy. But after the SENDONG, si SANTA ANG BOSS KO should be his proper tag line. Teachers, AFP and some other private organizations preferred to help the victims than to push through with their parties, but the PNoy? he never cared. PNoy is our president, he should be the first to sympathize but we never felt his presence. He even never ask for apology. His sisters do made unacceptable excuses rather than ask for an apology. I wonder why they behave that way? mga walang breeding! Mga anak pa naman sila ng mga tinagurian nating mga bayani.
P.S. Mabuti pa ang impeach narailroad pa, pero ang tulong para sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo? ewan ko nalang.
abnoy doesn’t really care for the flood victims because they are not his boss, mga bosabos niya sila at saka nandidiri siya sa mga dito, di tayo dapat nagkaroon ng presidenting galing sa copper, di naman tayo mga buang ah! nalinlang tayo ng mga nag-endorse sa kanya. sama tuloy ng tingin sa atin ng mga taga ibang bansa na sa copper nag-aral yung presidente natin ngayon.
I think that Vicenzo guy just being sarcastic and to provoke us just like dimasalang said, based on his comments.
i think by now we’re starting to learn from our mistakes–that most of us voted for panot when he ran for office. nagpapauto kasi tayo eh tsaka it;s filipino peoples nature na laging nakiki simpatya kapag namamatayan. kaya naman ibinoto yang panot na yan e kasi very timely ang pagkamatay ng ermat nyang si cory na wala din namang nagawa para sa pinas. kaya next time, wag na magpapadala sa mga ganyan. sabagay success naman yung bawal ang wang wang. pero la na ko matandaang nagawa ni panot after that…
MEDIA MANIPULATION is when the ruling classes divert your attention to their mundane lives and make it seem of national importance.