By NESTOR MATA
AFTER four years, four months and four days in the highest seat in the land, what has President Noynoy Aquino done to show what he claims his “legacy of good governance”? Did he prove that he took the right path, as he had promised in his so-called “Daang Matuwid” mantra? Did he deliver on any of the numerous other promises he had made since then?
“Nothing! “Nada!” “Broken promises!” “Lies!” These are some of the answers to those questions by pundits, commentators, political observers in media and academe, and other concerned Filipinos. As one of them bluntly put it, “after hearing the President boast about his administration having “over-delivered” on his promises many citizens wondered “whether something was wrong with his vision and appreciation of simple facts and stark reality.”
One pundit belied Aquino’s litany of economic feats his government achieved in the first half of his term and that the country was no longer the “Sick Man of Asia.” That’s a sheer lie! For the term ‘Sick of Asia’ had long disappeared during the term of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when good economic performance of the country was lauded by the World Economic Forum in Davos and by the credit rating companies of Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.
Other political analysts and opinion writers, including this columnist, have long noted Aquino’s outrageous acts in subverting the Constitution. They recalled that when he took his oath of office in June 30, 2010, he swore to “faithfully and conscientiously fulfill my duties as President of the Philippines, preserve and defend the Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate myself to the service of the Nation. So help me God.”
Ever since, Aquino violated the fundamental law of the land with impunity. He used public funds to corrupt members of both houses of Congress and impeach a sitting chief justice of the Supreme Court; he destabilize the entire judicial system; he virtually installed himself on top of the three co-equal branches of government; and thus he destructed our democratic system. These are acts that would have warranted impeachment and trial in a functioning democracy. Alas, he has, in the words of one political critic, “strangled our democracy!”
Very obviously, as described by another political critic, Noynoy Aquino is not, as his political allies, Palace propagandists, and some yellow-tainted newspapers and broadcast networks, have projected him as “honest, incorruptible, a reformist, a non-traditional politician, a human rights protector and freedom of information and the press upholder, who will bring reforms in the country.” But it has been revealed that Aquino does not possess leadership qualities, governance experience and therefore not an effective president.
Even long before he stumbled into Malacañang, we remember well, Aquino had been psychologically evaluated by a Jesuit Jaime Bulatao, S.J., as having a “marked difficulty in thinking... he was pompous, his knowledge was found to be very little, very shallow and all preoccupied with self...he has impaired insights as well as superficial judgment, always read with an excuse when asked about his failures in life...he desired to be in politics and power one day, not to so much to help others, but to be able to heap a measure of revenge on the people who had imprisoned his father, troubled his family...”
This psychological- psychiatric evaluation, which surfaced during the 2010 presidential campaign, showed up in every aspect of Aquino’s presidency, as described by still another political analyst, including his “dislike for criticisms, his refusal to see himself and be seen as a failure, and prefer to blame others for his failures.”
Well, as we also noted in past columns, Aquino has been weighed and found wanting by the people’s court of public opinion when he failed to remember what truly happened during his four years in office and instead painted a rosy picture of what he claimed he did for the country and the people. This was really false. He did not tell the truth about the state of the nation under his chaotic reign.
So, quo vadis, Noynoy? Where are you going? What will happen to you in 2016?
Unless he is impeached and tried for culpable violation of the Constitution and other laws of the land before he actually bows out from office, Aquino still faces criminal charges once the cloak of presidential immunity is lifted from his shoulders when he steps down from office.
Yes, Noynoy Aquino will suffer the same fate as his predecessor whom he detained and humiliated since 2011 to this day. That, as the old saying goes, is his karma!
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Quote of the Day: “Public opinion is an independent variable of political calculation. It settles everything. It is held in reverence. Some think it is the voice of God.” – Anon.
Thought of the Day: “He who fails to remember the past will soon be condemned to relive it!”
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