The honeymoon between P.Noy and the media is over

Today is the hundredth day of the Presidency of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and there is obviously a tug-of-war whether he should be given a failing grade or not. Of course, the leftist and opposition groups have given him failing grades, while the Aquino supporters, including the national surveys that helped support his election campaign came up with high remarks for these first 100 days. But even if you sugar-coat your performance with the support of the media, you can see the real pulse of the people through the Internet where you can find the real unabashed score.

I’m sure that my readers expect me to give P.Noy a failing grade simply because I did not vote nor campaign for him. But just because we did not vote for him, it shouldn’t be said that we would give him a failing grade for the sake of grading his Presidency. On the other hand, if I give him high remarks, our readers might misconstrue it as making sip-sip to the new dispensation, which of course is I would never do.

Hence, I’d rather not join the fray. I have decided that it would be unfair to give him any grading because the reality is, Pres. Aquino was elected for a six-year term, not for 100 days. Let me just say that we are in for the long haul. I remember how my late mentor, Sir Max Soliven would say about the single term for the President, that it is just too short for a good President and it’s too long for a lousy one! So are we in for the long haul?

What we in the media do during a new President’s first 100 days is to hold our horses, do less criticizing and even applaud any new or novel ideas that the President does early in his term. A case in point is when the President forced the “Wang-Wang” issue on everyone. This is the most successful thing he has done in his first 100 days. I was in Manila last Tuesday and indeed, the only sirens blaring were the sirens of ambulances. But then, there’s more than just keeping the sirens from wailing.

Today, we expect the President to come up with his pronouncements on who should be made responsible for the botched Aug.23 incident. Regardless of who gets hurt, the President is expected to do what he must do, not just to appease the people of Hong Kong whose citizens were innocently killed in that hostage drama, but also to appease the Filipino people who were angered at the handling of this incident that caused national shame as it was showed on CNN and BBC and other international news organizations.

The focus now is whether his pal, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Rico Puno would be charged or spared from the President’s wrath. All bets are, Puno would not be touched, even if you can see on many of his interviews in YouTube that he admitted to certain lapses, including his suggestion to P.Noy that he might as well sleep and he would wake up the President when all this is over. Incidentally, it is the same Puno that is now in hot water because of his involvement in the Jueteng scandal.

At this point, we look forward to the next 100 days of the Aquino administration and we hope and pray that he can pick up the broken pieces that his administration did when he stepped into power. We know that there are at three to four warring factions within the Malacañang Palace, whose only glue is P.Noy himself. P.Noy should either crack the whip or let his friends toe the line, otherwise his administration would self-destruct.

Remember the old saying, “United we stand, divided we fall”? If P.Noy’s friends cannot even unite behind him, how can P.Noy succeed with the enormous task ahead of him? My message to P.Noy is simply, the honeymoon is over!

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Allow me to send an early birthday greeting to a good friend, Mr. Francisco “Kito” Unchuan who will celebrate his triple 10th birthday this coming Sunday, Oct.10, 2010, which is 10-10-10! This date comes only once in a lifetime, hence tonight Kito will be celebrating with his close friends at the Casa Escaño tonight for a sumptuous dinner. I’m writing this early greeting because his birthday falls on Sunday and I only have my spiritual column for Sunday. Also, I will be out this weekend on a big bike ride to Zamboanga City with a few friends, which is why Kito Unchuan has moved his birthday party earlier.

Amongst my many close friends, Kito is one whom I would say is even closer to me than my brothers. We can tell each other anything; after all, we’ve known each other since we were youngsters and have remained friends now that we’re grandfathers. Like a true friend, Kito helped me on my spiritual journey, (hopefully, I also helped him in his journey) when we joined the Sons of David. We never fail to ask one another for prayers if we need it. So cheers to you Kit. May God always keep and bless all your business endeavors and above all, you and your family. Many happy returns of the day! Cheers!