Noy's wish for Pinoys: Criticize less, give more

MANILA, Philippines - Does President Aquino believe in Santa Claus?

Aquino did not give a categorical answer when asked during his World View interview on YouTube by a seven-year-old boy identified only as Joshua.

But Aquino does have a wish, not just for Christmas but also throughout the year, for Filipinos – for them to fault find less and be more giving.

“Do I believe in Santa Claus? Santa Claus perhaps is a personification of (the)... best in people, the idea of generosity, the idea of caring (that) does come out at least for Christians during this period most particularly, and most strongly,” Aquino said.

“If I were to wish on people who have goodwill towards their fellow men, what would I ask for? More than anything, we really have to shift, to those of us still left in the ‘criticize anything and everything’ phase to transforming ourselves into how can we assist our neighbor, our sister, our brother or whoever, somebody we don’t even know,” he said.

He said, “We contribute towards the improvement of the whole rather than how do we concentrate on envy or concentrate on our ability to criticize daily to ad infinitum that leads to nowhere.”

“Perhaps that idea of caring for everybody does not exist only during the Christmas period but more so is a facet of everyday life, that has to be that looking out rather than looking purely at one’s own self interest. That’s the wish,” Aquino said.

In a recent forum with the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), the President also said the people seem to have become nitpickers now after the apathy during the past administration.

“Because previously the people seem to be... so apathetic already, not cathartic about issues that befell my predecessor’s government. Now, it seems there’s a fixation to go on the opposite extreme which is to find fault and nitpick as much as possible and becoming... for certain quarters it’s quite their obsession,” he said.

“If the choice is between apathy or being too much of a busybody, I think I’d rather accept the busybody concerned with what happens in the country rather than the apathy that happened not too long ago,” Aquino said.

In the same FOCAP forum, Aquino said he still has to adjust, especially on the total lack of privacy.

“(The) things that I predicted would happen... when I was first asked to run, are happening and perhaps some of them even to a worse degree. We really, I think, worked extremely hard and then, at the end of the day, not too many media people are concerned about what we think are the important issues but are more concerned with issues that I think are more of a trivial concern,” he said.

“Ever since I entered public service the only motivator, the only thing I ever needed to keep going was when I was a congressman, for instance, to go back home to the district and see the appreciation of the people that I promised to work for.

“Yesterday, a chance encounter with that family not too well-off and they seem to be so appreciative of the things we were doing – that is enough for (me)... And when I get a reception like that or even in Mandaluyong earlier in the day, then the four years and about eight months remaining does not seem to be that long,” he said.