A discontented wife

Last week was a bad week all around.

After listening to a news summary on the latest Pulse Asia Survey, it seems that the public has manifested a serious dislike or distrust for just about anybody in government service. Survey respondents were also no longer particular about political affinity, nor made distinctions between the administration and the opposition. Plain and simple, people are unhappy and are acting like a discontented housewife.

The sudden dip in popularity of politicians and public servants is also the first time when even the President’s and the Vice President’s popularity have gone down together. I suspect that people are simply getting hurt or getting fed up with runaway fuels costs, runaway criminality and the realization that inflation has quietly been hurting family budgets and creating animosity.

It has not helped government either, when so much media attention has focused on the Impeachment trial thereby giving the impression that Malacañang and its allies are more interested in removing CJ Corona than solving the everyday problems of Filipinos. Because he was perceived as actively doing something constructive in the impeachment trial, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile came out as the runaway winner in the latest popularity survey.

To make matters worse, after the survey results came out militants came up with a bait that Malacañang swallowed; “Noynoying”. Rather than ignore the insignificant bunch of malcontents, Malacanang spin-doctors actually reacted.

At the end of the day, the President came up with a solution on how to deal with his critics, by IGNOYING them. As is his habit, the President once again said that he would simply carry on working and do what has to be done and simply ignore the “Nay” Sayers.

Ironically, the media masters at the palace did the reverse, the spin doctors used every opportunity to highlight visuals of PNoy as a “working President” so much so that some rascals have put the photos on Facebook asking people for their reaction to the working photos of the President.

Sadly, everything about the decrease in public trust and the Noynoying issue has been addressed in such a superficial manner.

When people claim that the President is not “hands on” or that they don’t see the President doing things, I have reason to believe that they are actually giving vent or signifying their frustration at the inaction of the new administration as a whole and not particular to one man.

I would liken PNoy to the husband that comes home from work and is met by an angry wife who complains about all the things that don’t work in the house, about how the kids have been so uncooperative and about how sick and tired she was of having to go through the same things day in and day out, while “you” dear husband go to your cushy office totally clueless of the hardships at home!

With this line of thinking, my first thought is that the President is taking the blame for the under performance of his cabinet members. Just like the angry housewife, many Filipinos are unhappy or angry because many cabinet secretaries are not seen or heard on the ground, their departments are not addressing certain expectations, and are repeatedly passing the buck to powerless subordinates.

In the analogy of the discontented mother/wife, the general experience is that when the husband tries to share housework or duties, the most significant impact is the reassurance the wife gets that she is not being taken for granted or being dumped with the dirty work. The fact is, aside from bring home a salary, the husband won’t be able to do half the stuff in the housework, but everyone in the house is made to realize that he is concerned so everyone toes the line and does his or her share.

You maybe at the office dealing with the big picture, making a living, but if your presence and assistance is not felt at home, it does not take away the discontent and the subsequent decrease in public trust. Unfortunately for the President, he has become the easy target since he yields the most power and is expected to use the “belt” to discipline his under-performing cabinet members and bureaucratic brats.

To emphasize the point, I humbly suggest to the President to review or observe the news and how his cabinet members have responded. In the wake of increasing fuel prices, threats of tuition fee hikes, inflation and criminality, who among the cabinet secretaries has consistently made his or her presence felt and tried to reassure, if not taken direct action on such matters?

During the last two weeks, most of the talking has been done by Assistant Secretaries and Bureau Directors, and barely by Cabinet members! The only time we hear directly from them is during pre-arranged “Pa-pogi” interviews that people immediately recognize and turn off.

I don’t know if it’s a communications strategy but all the talking is being done by Presidential spokespersons Lacierda and Valte, who are not the decision makers for DTI, DOE, DILG, or CHED. Presidential spokespersons should be limited to the President’s agenda and be relieved of having to defend and protect cabinet secretaries of their under-performance. The concept of consolidating official statements under the Communications group has simply provided cover for the incompetent and has started to hurt or backfire against the President.

Perhaps it is time for the President to let his official family know that Spring cleaning is on the way along with a dose of discipline for slackers!

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