Salamat Noynoy: Remembering his bullet-riddled legacy

It was 1987 when Cory’s administration faced a military coup (one of 6 plots to overthrow her) in which Noynoy Aquino was hit 5 times by attacking rogue soldiers at Malacanang. Three of his bodyguards were killed during the attack, but he survived with one bullet remaining embedded in his neck as a remembrance.

We could not tell what was going on in Noynoy’s mind while the SAF44 were being riddled with gunfire from Muslim separatists, with their pleas for a rescue falling on unresponsive ears. His thoughts would probably sound like the following: “Just as my bodyguards in 1987 died as human shields defending me, you should all be sacrificed for my shot at a Nobel Peace Prize”, or “If I had to endure a rain of bullet fire, so should you guys.”

Lack of empathy is what many will remember of this guy, akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned. The song Nero by Steve Taylor comes to mind…

Nero’s watching video while Rome begins to burn
Nero’s wearing roller skates so he can quickly turn
Get away from all he does and what to see or what to hear
Nero’s wearing headphones and they stretch from ear to ear

Nero’s got a private world for which the heart may yearn
Nero’s watching video while Rome begins to burn

A country run like hell

PNoy brought to realization Pres. Manuel Quezon’s “run like hell” quotable quote.

The 15th president of the Philippines will be remembered not only by his being literally bullet-riddled but also by his bullet-riddled legacy. I guess no other Philippine president has been attacked by critics as immensely as PNoy and his administration. Let’s run down through his “greatest hits”:

• Manila/Luneta hostage crisis
• DAP/PDAF graft
• All-out vindictiveness vs. GMA and Chief Justice Corona
• MRT/LRT mismanagement and deterioration
• Typhoon Yolanda boggled disaster relief efforts
• Mamasapano massacre: SAF44
• Losing Scarborough Shoal to China
• Laglag bala scam at NAIA
• Dengvaxia vaccine fiasco
• Igniting China’s fury with UNCLOS trial

You voted for an ill-equipped unqualified president with no track record of examplary performance; that’s what you get. We are not surprised. But did anything good come out of his presidency? Well there are at least 3 things we can thank Noynoy for:

1. Demolishing the Yellow Myth – By PNoy and his cabinet’s goof-ups at every turn, Filipinos finally snapped out of the long spell of emo necropolitical-playbook-propelled governance by the incompetent. The Yellow-led EDSA “revolution” turns out to be a farce. PNoy brings with his death the end of necropolitics in the country. Next year’s presidential elections will provide undisputable proof.
2. Making the country proud by adding a new word to the English vocabulary: Noynoying – Sitting around staring into space, much like Mr. Aquino supposedly does instead of running the country. Or assuming a posture of nonchalantly doing nothing in the midst difficult and urgent problems and situations.
3. Setting an outstanding example… of how NOT to behave as a president. Future leaders of the country and around the world will take PNoy as a rich textbook material for what not to repeat when running a country. If you ever heard of the description of how the country is like one run by 3rd graders, well the 6-year presidency of PNoy displayed it in all its glory.

End of the Aquino Dynasty?

With the only son of Ninoy and Cory Aquino passing away loveless and childless, there is no direct heir of the Aquino surname to take advantage of whatever political capital remains for Yellow royalty. This ends this chapter in Philippine history – the experiment of placing in positions of power people who have no real credentials to handle the complexities of a nation as culturally challenged as ours.

Aquino now equates to incompetent leadership. No politician in his/her right mind will want to be associated with this name if they want even a slim chance of getting elected. Using the Aquino / Yellow brand is tantamount to political suicide. Even Mar Roxas in the last senatorial elections seemed to realize this and began to distance himself.

It’s time we close this failed experimental cookbook of installing incompetent leaders. Napaso na tayo. Time to get back on track and run with the East Asian stallions. Vietnam has just overtaken us and is steaming ahead taking in a huge chunk of FDI and leaving us to bite the dust. Let’s leave it to the mentally qualified and extremely gifted to set down the vision and strategy that will bring the country out of its basket case conditions.

No, the country is not divided as the Yellow camp thinks. A noisy minority does not constitute a real 50/50 division (like what we saw in US’ Trump vs. Biden). The country is generally united now in our desire to install a leader who can bring back intelligent and competent governance into the equation of running this country.

Will Filipinos again elect an unqualified someone just because his papa/mama/asawa/kapatid died? Hopefully we can say “Never Again” for a very long time.

zaxx

Zealous revolutionary advocate of bringing back common sense for the common good in a land of dysfunctional and delusional zombies.