The Need to be a Hero

Noynoy Aquino needs to be a hero in order to succeed as the President.

Counting the days before the actual proclamation, the papers today reported that foreign ambassadors, the US including, have already sent their congratulatory messages to the presumptive President. In foreign diplomatic parlance, this is already a recognition pending the formalities. They already see Noynoy as the next President of the country.

But Noynoy will not have it easy. Even now, the forces are against his odds. Forces that have been laid out by the previous administration.

A President needs the co-equal branches of government in order to succeed, Congress and the Supreme Court. His recent strong stand against the appointment of Corona as Chief Justice does not help in his relationship with the Supreme Court. He's not to be blamed about this since even past Chief Justices are surprised by how the current Supreme Court decided that Gloria Arroyo can appoint the next Chief Justice despite the unconstitutionality of it. One things for sure though, all of the Justices that comprised the SC now are all Gloria appointees. To say that politics has not penetrated the SC is to still live in a dream world.

As for the Congress, need we say more the motivation of Gloria Arroyo for running, and winning, the Congressional Seat in Pampanga? She will try her best to assert her presence there, making herself Noynoy's Damocles' sword in Congress. The Senate, on the other hand, is not all that friendly either. If Manny Villar gets back leadership, it will not be a walk in the park for Noynoy.

Even Noynoy's agenda of curbing corruption in government is threatened by the presence of another Gloria appointee, who is also close to the Arroyo's, to a position crucial to this cause - the Ombudsman.

Thus, Noynoy needs to be a hero in the sense that he will play against all odds. He will just have to remember one thing - the people have voted for him. The country has spoken and it wants him to be the next leader. Therefore, if he is unsuccessful, the blame will not be on the odds, it will be on him.

Noynoy will thread a difficult path for the next six years as President. He might even be against the government itself. But like all heroes, faith will carry him through. The people will be behind him.

Starting with Principles

The declaration to take the oath to a baranggay captain instead of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has gotten Noynoy Aquino, the leading presidential bet, in a hot fix. People are saying he's vindictive, inflexible, assumptive of the win, and inexperienced in Presidential politics. They say he is risking a Constitutional crisis, and snubbing the Supreme Court itself.

I beg to differ.

Noynoy Aquino may be off to a good start. Yes. Because he is starting with principles. The Liberal Party ran on a platform of change. Specifically, change from the Arroyo administration. And Noynoy, even before this imminent win in the presidential race, has made it public of his oppostion to the appointment of a Chief Justice by Gloria Arroyo.

Now that the Chief Justice is appointed, Noynoy's reaction come as no surprise. He is being consistent with his stand. And he has every right to be. While the Supreme Court has decided that Gloria can decide to choose the next Chief Justice, and she has done so without hesitation, it also knows that a President-elect is not obliged by law to take his oath before the same Chief Justice.

And Noynoy, like Gloria, can do it as well, without hesitation.

And I think he should. Not because he will follow in the footsteps of Gloria. But because he should, one by one, undo all the shameless actions, policies, and systems that Gloria did, all to serve her own interests.

Its just a matter of principles. Noynoy ran on a platform of anti-corruption and clean government. I think Day One of fulfilling that platform has begun. It was an oath to the people. Better than any oath taken before a doubtful Chief Justice.

The Virtue of Conceding

As Noynoy pulls away in the Presidential race, 5 of the competing presidentiables have thrown in the towel and conceded. Such an event only after 24 hours of the actual elections is yet another understated benefit of the new automated election that we just had. Some saw it negatively. I saw it virtuous.

The trust these presidentiables and the other candidates have given the new election process have put at ease the doubts that have paramounted the minds of the electorate days leading to May 10. By conceding, they showed that they trust the results, they trusted the process, despite all the last minute confusion.

Such action is virtuous. These people are true leaders. And by putting the interest of the country first before themselves, they have demonstrated their true nationalism. Hats off to Villar, Gibo, Villanueva, Gordon, JC. Their call for reconciliation is timely, proper, and needed.

After the circus, all should focus on the difficult task at hand of re-building the country - reinforcing good government programs, and changing those that are not.

It's not yet, but it seems it would be up to the hands of Noynoy to bring this country forward.

Why I will vote for Noynoy, and not yet for Gibo.

I just made up my mind right now. On the vote I will cast on Monday. I will vote for Noynoy Aquino. Up to a few seconds before I made my decision, I was still weighting between Noynoy and Gibo. But I finally decided on Noynoy. Why?

Competency, skill and character-wise, I believe Gibo is a better candidate. He has proven time and again that he does not only have the smarts, he is his own man. He is a visionary. And a visionary is what I believe this country needs as a leader.

But Gibo is not what the country needs RIGHT NOW. Coming from the Arroyo government, what the country needs right now is a Noynoy Aquino - at least for 6 years. Here is why...

The scandal of corruption that the current government faces is so vast, a breath of fresh air is needed. In the past 9 years, the country was a witness to the bastardization of the system and the manipulation of institutions this government did in order to meet its own ends. One cannot even avoid thinking it is behind the recent fumbling of the Comelec and Smartmatic on the PCOS machines to be used in the automated election. Conspiracy theorists are already painting a NO-EL scenario. It is sending jitters to everyone.

The short of it all is that this government has been corrupt. And the only anti-thesis to such an administration is one who will promise a clean government. I believe that Noynoy can and will deliver on that promise. The legacy of his parents is so paramount, he would curse himself if he taints it with any practice of corruption. This same legacy has been the criticism for Noynoy. He is not his own man, they say. He has not proven anything by himself, only that he is the son of Ninoy and Cory, both heroes of the country, nothing more. But that is precisely his greatest strength. It's his badge that he will not rob this country for himself, unlike what Gloria Arroyo did. This is the only badge that we need for the next 6 years.

I still regard Gibo highly. And I would hope that he will stay afloat politically and be ready for 2016, where I believe the country will be ready for him. He is still young, and he still has a chance to gain wisdom to complement his intelligence. Then maybe he can bring our country to "fly" to progress.

But right now, the country needs a correction from the culture of corruption, dishonest administration, and dirty politics. It needs to be clean first before it can be ready for flight. Noynoy can start a culture of clean politics, build it for 6 years, and then step aside. No, I don't believe he is smart enough to bring this country to greatness. But he is honest enough to prepare this country to its future greatness.