my new president

benigno simeon "noynoy" c. aquino is the new president of the republic of the philippines. he's my new president. to be honest, i didn't want him to win but as a good soldier, i will follow my new boss, my new president.

why didn't i want to him to win? let's see...

1. the guy didn't want to run in the first place. his mother, the venerable former president corazon "cory" c. aquino, died which resurrected the yellow army who, in turn, convinced noynoy that he was the best person to continue his mother's crusade against corruption in government. i think it was a case of noynoy auspiciously being at the right place at the right time

2. i think he's just being used. three presidents after his mother, most of cory's people were practically in, what i would call, the abyss of lost & forgotten politicians. this would now, again, be their chance to return & regain power. i mean seriously, after three presidents, their resources must be depleted so there is an urgent need to replenish. there's also no denying the fact that power is addictive. when you've had a taste of bodyguards, unlimited expense accounts, complimentary domestic and international travels, media exposure, and a chance to put relatives, friends, even your househelp in government payroll, it's kinda hard to return to a life of being just an ordinary juan or maria..

3. he's running for president, not his parents. i hate it when kids use their parents to advance what they believe is their right as well. nope. our parents have what they have because they worked their ass off for it. adults should work and not rely on their parents. from what i heard, noynoy has not passed a single bill since he was elected congressman then senator. in this campaign he kept saying "my mother did this, my father did that" but what i need to hear and what he hasn't said is what he has done. i certainly hope he is aware that people will, for the next six years, judge him for the way he runs the country. he can't hide behind the shadow of his parents and his advisers all the time. this unico hijo is going to have to stand up, have the balls to personally deal with whatever shit is thrown his way, and realize that "cory magic" is about cory; he's just going to have to create his own magic someway, somehow.

4. it's all motherhood statements no actual platform of government. yes, we all want corruption to end but how does he plan to end it? corruption is not just about bloated government contracts or under the table transactions. corruption extends to all sorts of abuse of government funds and resources by people in and out of government. even during his mother's term, there was corruption. everyone just turned a blind eye because we were all too happy that the dictator & his family had fled, thanks to our people power. will noynoy hold himself accountable if any of his appointees become involved in a corruption scandal during his term? will he ensure that they are held to an even higher standard now more than ever? if he makes mistakes - being human we are bound to commit them sooner or later no matter the circumstance - will he be humble enough to apologize?

5. a president is a statesman. i was so surprised that, after returning from a spiritual retreat and having spiritual advisers left and right, noynoy started bashing other presidentiables. the term mudslinging? the guy had a slingshot the size of mayon volcano hurling mud like nobody's business. i had expected a cleaner, more decent fight from him. the odds were in his favor to begin with. his peeps should be doing the trash talk, not him.

6. kris aquino could be a problem. noynoy's baby sister loves to air her dirty laundry in public. she can't keep her mouth shut about anything. noynoy has never and i doubt will ever be able to keep his sister from creating craters of problems. heck, even their own mother could not stop kris. all cory could say was "i love you, kris" every after each "krisaster" (kris disaster) which kris would expectedly turn to her favor, short of saying "see.. my mother, the former president, loves me so all of you should love me too, hahaha!"

however.. after having said that.. i still believe that noynoy's intentions are truly good; hopefully, the execution will be even better. i hope he surrounds himself with people who will make his programs work, keep his name and reputation clean, tell him every single sordid truth about the state of the nation, and give him sound and unbiased advice. i wish him the best of luck for the next six years. in the meantime, arroyo is still president until noon of 30 june 2010 so he should hold all his presidential horses until then.