President BS Aquino. Photo by KJ Rosales/Manila Bulletin.
President BS Aquino. Photo by KJ Rosales/Manila Bulletin.

Quite interestingly, diehard supporters of President BS Aquino ushered in the commemoration of the 29th anniversary of 1986 People Power uprising by rehashing the discredited “Marcos pa rin!” battlecry into an Internet trending topic #NoynoyPaRin.

For a whole day, they convinced themselves that there’s no one else fit to lead the country at this time, except their idol. We don’t know what they smoked before and as they did it. But if they were aiming to change the topic of public conversations away from President BS Aquino’s command responsibility over the Mamasapano incident, let us tell them: Nice try.

Presidents: BS Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Presidents: BS Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

“The President should resign,” declared a manifesto signed by a growing number of citizens from across the country.

Damage control is in overdrive: But even after addressing the nation on national television, the President still failed to regain the trust of citizens outraged by the incident in Mindanao, among many outstanding issues propelling the protests.

Suspended Police Chief and Presidential Pal Alan Purisima and President BS Aquino. Photo from Inquirer.net.
Suspended Police Chief and Presidential Pal Alan Purisima and President BS Aquino. Photo from Inquirer.net.

 

It is now dawning on me and many others that those who wish to keep PNoy while not doing anything to hold him accountable are mainly those who think the unresolved problems will benefit them and their chosen candidates for 2016. These people, who seem to be as self-absorbed as PNoy, view the chances of their manok in 2016 as more important than anything else. Malacanang spokesmen are very happy for their help in protecting PNoy from all accountability.

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Flag-draped caskets of the 42 out of the 44 slain Special Action Force members were transported to Manila’s Villamor Air Base on Jan. 29. Photo from the PNP-PIO Facebook Page.

Full credit goes to President BS Aquino for uniting the nation twice this week, but for the wrong reasons: First, in grief over the loss of 44 members of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) in a bloody operation he approved; and second, in fury, over the chief executive’s snubbing of the arrival honors at Villamor Air Base for the fallen elite cops.

Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom/European pressphoto agency - Philippine President Benigno Aquino III (C) greets supporters after delivering his State of the Nation Address during a joint session of the 16th Congress in Quezon City, east of Manila, Philippines, 22 July 2013. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the Philippines on 22 July to demand better jobs, more inclusive growth and the protection of human rights to coincide with President Benigno Aquino III?s state of the nation address. An effigy of Aquino was burned and eggs were thrown at police officers blocking the main road going to the House of Representatives. EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA
President Aquino shakes hands with congressmen after delivering his State of the Nation Address during a joint session of the 16th Congress in Quezon City on 22 July 2013. Photo from Yahoo! News by EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA.

Dear PNoy,

Nakakagulat naman na ang sikat at pinagkakatiwalaang presidente namin – ayon sa mga survey – ay magsasalita ngayong gabi. At sa sobrang napakaimportante pa yata, mukhang ipe-preempt ninyo ang mga paborito naming telenovela at iba pang palabas sa TV.

Sana ay worth it itong gagawin niyo. Pakisugurado pong kapani-paniwala yung mga sasabihin niyo. Sana ay di mala-telepantasya yung script na babasahin ninyo para sulit naman yung pag-preempt niyo sa mga telenovela. (Sana maging Honesto kayo at ‘wag kontrabida, ok?)

Di po namin alam kung ganoon na kayo kakabado kaya gusto niyong maging Primetime King.  Anyway, buhay po ninyo yan. Sana ay basahin niyo ito para magkalinawan.

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After the Million People March, the fight continues for so many reasons.

We have yet to meet our goals. The President continues to defend and to lie about the pork barrel system. Janet Lim Napoles and her co-conspirators have yet to be charged with plunder. Social services and important infrastructure projects have yet to receive necessary funding under a budget dominated by presidential and congressional discretion – and not our needs as a people.

That Janet Lim Napoles is now in custody is a direct result of strong public pressure and the Million People March in Luneta and across the country. Had we not marched and told #PNoink that we want heads and pig heads to roll, nothing would have happened.

#PNoink treatment for Napoles

The surrender of Napoles to #PNoink himself and right inside Malacanang was an obvious scripted event aimed at portraying the President

as a man of action and true to his word. But the reverse happened. The people were shocked that Napoles found a way to the most powerful and busiest leader of the country and in the whole process evade a manhunt against her. That #PNoink met her cheapened the presidency and put the President right in the middle of the controversy.

#ScrapPork campaign reaches the US, with BAYAN USA picketing at the RitzCarlton in Los Angeles, where Jeane Napoles owns an allegedly ill-gotten property.
#ScrapPork campaign reaches the US, with BAYAN USA picketing at the RitzCarlton in Los Angeles, where Jeane Napoles owns an allegedly ill-gotten property.

For as long as we remember, every time we ask the government to do something that is good for the country, the standard answer has been “no way, magtiis tayo, walang pera ang gobyerno”.

And so many or most of us would actually stop asking government for what it should really provide in the first place. Like vital or essential social services from education to housing, flood control to airport upgrades, from OFW protection to suppport for entrepreneurs.

And we work our asses off to heroically fill the gaps, although it is always a herculean effort. Some have to leave the country to get fair opportunities. Those of us in the country endure daily taxation – from gas to electricity, that favorite latte to basic groceries. Everything is slapped with VAT. And then our payslip. Whether you like it or not, government gets a hefty share of the products of your labor.

It is in this context – of a country and people long told by government to suffer and to endure because we didn’t have much – that we have become angry and ready to march when we found out that President Aquino proposed P26-billion in pork barrel for senators, congressmen and congresswomen in his 2014 budget. This is on top of the P1-trillion in unprogrammed, special, discretionary funds – presidential pork! – for himself and his office.

Outside the Batasang Pambansa where Mr. Aquino delivered his longest SONA, protesters burn an effigy of him. (Pixel Offensive)
Outside the Batasang Pambansa where Mr. Aquino delivered his longest SONA, protesters burn an effigy of him. (Pixel Offensive)

Here is the official transcript or full text of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s state of the nation address delivered before a joint session of Congress on July 22, 2013 at the Batasang Pambansa:

Marami pong salamat. Maupo ho tayong lahat.

Bise Presidente Jejomar Binay; Senate President Franklin M. Drilon; Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.; Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno at ang ating mga kagalang-galang na mahistrado ng Korte Suprema; mga dating Pangulong Fidel Valdez Ramos at Joseph Ejercito Estrada; mga kagalang-galang na kagawad ng kalipunang diplomatiko; mga miyembro ng Senado at Kamara de Representante; mga opisyal ng lokal na pamahalaan; mga miyembro ng Gabinete; mga unipormadong kasapi ng militar at kapulisan; mga kapwa ko nagseserbisyo sa taumbayan; at sa aking mga Boss, ang mga minamahal kong kababayan:

A sign of the times under President Benigno Aquino III

From Day One, Filipinos have looked for ways to catch President Aquino’s and his team’s attention whenever they f—k their jobs and whenever they needed to be reminded about their solemn duties and the promises they made during the campaign.

Everytime the public would raise a howl over some grave mistake or omission, the routine answer from Malacanang has been to point fingers at the trust and confidence ratings of the President and the electoral mandate he enjoyed. Even social media, which the President and his team promised would be used for gathering feedback from the public, had been grossly violated. Each time netizens take to the President’s Facebook Page to give the President a piece of their mind, Palace factotums just suddenly get afflicted with an irrational allergy — they shut down the Page for comments. Of course, we cannot forget how the Palace just snatched the Facebook Page from the ordinary citizens which set it up and administered it until it reached millions of Likes. That in itself was an offense.

Enter Noynoying.

Legislators packed the session hall of the House of Representatives for President Aquino's speech. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez via Yahoo! News)

Here is a text of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino’s first  State of the Nation Address which he delivered on July 26, 2010 before a joint session of Congress at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City:

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay; Chief Justice Renato Corona; Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished members of the diplomatic corps; my fellow workers in government;

Sen. Escudero announces resignation from NPC (Photo courtesy of Yahoo PH)
Sen. Escudero announces resignation from NPC (Photo courtesy of Yahoo PH)

Sen. Chiz Escudero today surprised the nation by announcing his resignation from the Nationalist People’s Coalition and begged for time to make a final decision on a possible presidential candidacy in 2010.

Speaking before media and supporters at Club Filipino, Escudero railed against party politics and attempted to tackle specific people’s issues — surprise! surprise! — as he explained his decision to resign from his erstwhile party:

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Mar Roxas lights a candle at the tomb of former President Aquino whose son Noynoy he now vowed to support as Liberal Party presidential candidate. (Courtesy of MarRoxas.com)

PLEASE SEE UPDATES BELOW. Liberal Party President and Senator Mar Roxas II made the following “major and important announcement” tonight at the historic Club Filipino.

After months of being considered LP’s presidential candidate-in-waiting, Roxas formally gave way to partymate Senator Noynoy Aquino, son of former President Cory Aquino and former Sen.  Ninoy Aquino. Noynoy and other LP leaders joined Roxas at the press conference.

Roxas could not have chosen a better date to make this announcement as it falls exactly a month after the death of President Aquino who herself took her presidential oath of office at the same venue.

However, Roxas did not directly state that he is open to be Aquino’s runningmate or whether he will abandon plans to run for higher office and instead run for reelection as senator next year.

Following are excerpts of Sen. Roxas’ statement: