Leaders should be humble and tell the truth

During election season in the United States, they are just as dirty as we are especially when it comes to their candidates trying to discredit each other in order to gain advantage and eventually win the elections. The Presidential campaign during the last May elections had both Presidentiables Sen. Manny Villar and Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III trying to outdo each other in lambasting then Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) telling their audience that she was the worst President we ever had. Eventually, it was Aquino who won that race and is now our President.

As the new Aquino administration took over the reins of government from the Arroyo administration, it did not stop its anti-Arroyo bashing and anyone who was supposedly connected to the previous administration, directly or indirectly was considered anathema to them. The Aquino administration never found anything good with the Arroyo administration and that includes our economy which outdid many western nations at the time when a financial pall of gloom hovered over these countries.

Lo and behold! An article appeared in the Business page of The Philippine Star yesterday headlined, “Aquino admin: GMA ran economy well.” When did the Aquino executives embrace some kind of humility? It turned out that during the first hearing on the proposed P1.64 trillion national budget for 2011 in Congress, the members of the Development Budget Coordinating Council (DBCC) admitted that the previous administration did not bungle the economy because of good economic fundamentals.

Of course that newly found humility could only come from Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s economic managers, headed by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima who then held that same position under the Arroyo administration. Since elections are over, Sec. Purisima cannot deny the numbers; after all, numbers do not lie. Despite the negative attacks against GMA, she did her homework well as far as the economy is concerned.

If Sec. Purisima said that the Arroyo administration did not do well, then it would have boomeranged on him. Hence, these people have to swallow their pride, bite the bullet and admit what many Filipinos already know, that under GMA, the Philippines outdid most of our ASEAN neighbors and other European nations. Now admitting that fact wasn’t really that difficult, if only our leaders are humble enough to tell the truth!

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I may agree with the legal mind of our good friend, Cebu City Councilor Edgardo Labella that former Miss Universe Gloria Diaz cannot be declared a persona non grata because it has no legal effect on her because she is not a diplomat nor is she a foreigner; however, it is not illegal for the Cebu City Council to make that declaration just to put a stamp of displeasure by the outraged Cebuano citizenry on the insult she slapped on us, that we Cebuanos don’t speak good English.

That Ms. Gloria Diaz refused to apologize for this faux pas only strengthens our resolve that our government leaders should teach her a lesson that she won’t soon forget. Otherwise, if we do not make such sanctions, it will be a guarantee that others would soon follow her foul mouth and insult Cebuanos once again. It’s about time we put our foot down on those people.

But there are many ways to skin a cat. For example, hotels can refuse to book her if she calls for a reservation. Restaurant owners can also tell their staff that if a Ms. Gloria Diaz ever comes to Cebu, they can actually refuse to serve her food because we do not want to serve customers who have a low regard for Cebuanos. In trying to defend herself, Gloria Diaz said that she has Cebuano helpers and a Cebuano boyfriend. Perhaps because her Cebuano helpers do not speak English and Tagalog well, is the reason why she blurted that insult. How low she thinks of us Cebuanos!

Already many Cebuanos have come forward to challenge Ms. Gloria Diaz for a verbal tête-à-tête with her in English in order to find out who is better in speaking English. I suggest that our own Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar hold that talk with her to teach her a lesson or two in English. I just hope that Ms. Diaz can say the words, “Apple, popsicle and bicycle” properly.

 Of course it goes without saying that La Gloria D probably did what she did because she’s already a “has-been”. In the Entertainment world, if no one talks about you, you are no longer in vogue; your popularity is below zero. Hence, some celebrities often go to certain extremes just to remind people that they are still very much around. Yes, Ms. Diaz is still very much around alright, but I just hope that she’s not going to make a trip to Cebu soon, lest someone might just let those barking dogs out!

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