When a leader carries a wounded heart

It is easy to criticize the President nowadays. In fact, both the left and the right and the center have converged on a common ground of dissatisfaction. Others have reached a point of complete disenchantment, and still some have completely lost their trust and confidence on the head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of all armed forces. He has suffered a major setback and his moral authority to govern has been severely tarnished. Not a few have demanded for his resignation. One ally in Congress has even resigned from his seat in the Lower House for he can no longer continue supporting PNoy.

This writer has even declared, in a previous column, that the PNoy presidency has ultimately crumbled. But, if we really reflect deeper on the kind of circumstances that he faces, if we think more profoundly on the complexity of the challenges confronting the presidency, we might be kinder and be more understanding of the many tactical errors, the number of inconsistencies, the various wrong moves and seeming lies that his trusted men attempted to peddle. It is very easy for us to say harsh words against this administration because we are in the comfort of where we are, away from the hazards and risks that always endanger the one at the helm of leadership.

Reflecting more seriously on the situation of PNoy, it dawns on me that this was a guy who carries a badly wounded heart. He is the only son of a father who was murdered after having been banished subsequent to no less than seven years of being detained. His father was held in solitary confinement in Fort Magsaysay somewhere in the hinterlands of Nueva Ecija. There was a time when Ninoy was made to suffer too much pains, too much indignities and too much insults inside a ''bartolina'' when he was put in a very small cubicle after having been stripped of his clothing and his human dignity. And all this was told to Noynoy as a small boy. That could have been too much for a young son who loved his dad so much.

He was also a personal witness to how the military renegades subjected his late mother repeatedly to no less than seven "coup detats." All his sisters were not expected to bear arms and defend their beleaguered mother. But as the only son, all eyes were on him. People expected him to provide security to his mom. All the attempts to oust his mother must have inflicted on PNoy a deep trauma. Such a trauma could only lead him to develop some hatred and mistrust on the military, except, of course, to a very few who earned his trust like now Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and his favorite General Alan Lamadrid Purisima.

When a leader comes to power with a wounded heart, his decisions are expectedly affected by some tinge of bias and preconceived notions of what could go right and what could go wrong. In other words, his thoughts and actions could be colored by some deep prejudice. That is why, among the many military and police officials, the President could only think of General Purisima as the only one he could trust. He has had many actual experiences where he has proven the loyalty of this general. He openly declared this in many of his speeches and dialogues.

Thus, while others could not understand what is so special with this suspended general, if we study the background of both Noy and Alan as persons, and as friends, we would readily understand. Both of them might have ascended to their respective posts with certain sadness and pains in their hearts. Perhaps, they are not to be despised, after all, but rather to be understood. That may be the least that we can do to be able to move the nation forward, after too much enmity and hurts.