Ilda has said her pieces about President Aquino and they are certainly more than a little harsh. As if on cue, President Aquino’s supporters are quick to jump to his defense like pagan clerics protecting their grotesque satanic idol. However, despite the adamant and vehement defense being put up around President Aquino, there’s no denying the many disasters that have utterly devastated the Philippines and the very poor responses that are being made to address them. What’s even sadder is that it’s not just the big things he has screwed up in but also the little things such as the hullabaloo happening in NAIA as well as his statement regarding traffic as a sign of a booming economy according to Fallen Angel here.
However, just like the country he’s supposed to be running, many of President Aquino’s failures are more or less symptoms of a much deeper problem. What’s painful is that I’m sure that his defenders will once again rush to defend him like a swarm of flies and will spit out ad hominems and what not like spitting cobras. Well, unfortunately for them, I’m more than prepared to face them and I’ve gotten more than a little resistant to the type of attacks they regularly use.
So, without further ado…
His Lack of Empathy
As anyone will tell you, empathy is one of the things that make “good” people what they are. Empathy is about putting oneself in another’s shoes. It’s thinking something along the lines of: “How would I feel if I was that person?” Indeed, empathy is very important if you want to socialize with others and form a deep personal relationship with them.
Unfortunately for the Filipino people, it seems that President Aquino lacks any kind of empathy. This can be clearly seen in the way he simply blames the people for the Yolanda crisis, his unwillingness to apologize to the Chinese for the Luneta massacre to his refusal to even acknowledge the heroism of the SAF 44. What’s worse is that in the face of many of these tragedies, he has often seen smiling with what may seem like a psychotic grin. Now, while I myself am occasionally guilty of smiling or grinning in inappropriate situations, it’s more than a little rude to be smirking at such tragedies. Considering his wealthy background, I was hoping that he had at least been taught proper etiquette during solemn gatherings. Apparently, he can’t even be bothered to control himself in such situations and provide the proper respect for the departed.
For reference, just observe how he treated the families of the SAF 44. Instead of treating them with respect and sympathy, he spoke to them the way a pompous teenager talks to a younger kid they’re annoyed with. While he could’ve spoken kindly of their lost sons, brothers, husbands and fathers, he acted like an impatient brat who was too preoccupied with his video game to care about the tragedies other people have suffered. For a man who had also lost loved ones, I actually expected at least a sincere show of sympathy instead of a hollow sense of camaraderie and a statement that simply amounts to: “We’re even.”
Now that I think about it, is it really any surprise that President Aquino remains unmarried to this day? Of course, I’m no expert on women but I don’t think any woman in her right mind will ever marry a grinning idiot who can’t even respect others and their emotions. It’s more than a little egregious that President Aquino likes to say that the Filipino people are his “boss” when he can’t even respect how they feel about the tragedies that have befallen them.
His Immaturity
Well, it’s all been said before but I cannot emphasize it enough. President Aquino has certainly proven himself unable to act his age. Time and time again, from his speeches, his daily activities to his rampant disregard for his own people, President Aquino has certainly proven himself less than mature about his responsibilities as the leader of his country. Well, while I’m sure all of us have a childish side, the problem with the current president is that it seems to be his default mode of thinking.
Take for instance his reactions to criticism against his regime. Instead of presenting people with satisfying answers and explanations, he has only defected the blame to his predecessors. While he could’ve taken the time to actually address the many problems the Philippines faces such as the survivors of Yolanda, the hellish traffic in Edsa or the trials faced by the Lumad peoples of Mindanao, he instead tries desperately to sweep the issues under the rug by refusing to acknowledge them or pointing fingers at other people.
Throughout the many crises the country has suffered from the massacre of the SAF 44, the fate of the Yolanda survivors to the Luneta hostage situation, he has acted more like a spoiled boy who’d rather be playing Clash of Clans rather than the right and proper leader of a country. In fact, most of his speeches can be summed up as simply: “Don’t blame me because it’s not my fault, you should blame these other people.”
His Denial and Delusion
What’s worse is that despite everything I’ve written so far, I’m pretty sure that President Aquino and his followers will just resort to denial and delusion again. Instead of acknowledging the problems that besiege the Philippines such as rampant poverty and corruption, our vulnerability to various natural disasters and the possibility of war with the rebels in Mindanao or China, he has instead to cover them up with groundless lies and insubstantial illusions.
Take for instance all his talk of economic improvement even though the poverty rate has only increased and the poor of the country has only become dumber and even more dependent on dole-outs. There’s his constant talk of improving the military and yet the Philippine military has ranked 6th among the worst militaries of the world under his watch. He claims that a “peace agreement” with the rebels of Mindanao will prevent yet more deaths even though his blunders have caused more casualties than majority of regimes save perhaps for Jose P. Laurel’s. Then there’s his constant insistence that his “Tuwid na Daan” will lead the Philippines to progress even though, so far, it has only lead to more misery for his people.
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Ladies and gentlemen, I need to ask you, do we dare allow President Aquino’s straight road to Hell continue to lead us into a downward spiral of misery and stupidity?
As a side note, when I first saw the film The Hangover, I thought a character like Alan Garner was just a purely fictional character. I thought perhaps that if there really existed a character like him, he would be quickly institutionalized and subjected to various forms of psychotherapy to correct his attitude. Unfortunately, much to my horror, it turns out that we actually elected a similar character as our very own president.
Major bummer, eh?
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