(Photo Credits: Inquirer)

I’d like to thank GMA News TV. Great job Howie (Severino) talaga! What a wonderful Live Streaming service this news agency gave us Overseas Filipinos. Imagine not seeing this historic event. GMA News TV is truly a beacon of light in the wee hours here in the East Coast, halfway around the globe from Manila.

I purposely did not sleep tonight. Isang drum nang kape ang tinira ko. It is now 5:24am in the East Coast as I write this blog entry. I waited for the proclamation. I wanted to make sure that the man, I chose to lead the nation will be proclaimed. Who knows baka atakehin na naman nang midnight madness ang isa dyan, biglang mag-appoint nang ibang presidente.

Anyway, at the start of the ceremonies, I noticed that “Benigno Aquino III” was #9 on Yahoo Trends. By the time the press conference started, the trend jumped to #4. Take note, #4, as in the BP oil tragedy is big news here but is way far from the trend. That’s just to show you that the world is taking notice. Take a look at my capture:

Now, let me share you my thoughts about what I saw at the Senate floor:

1.) Important, historic and formal events deserve formal attire from attendees. It’s called respect. But as the camera panned across the floor, I was disappointed to see a number of spectators and well-wishers still wearing the yellow uniforms. Di ba dapat unity na tayo? Some came in their “wala lang” attire. Gusto kong kurutin ang mga singit nang mga to! Shouldn’t we Filipinos start minding the way we dress for the occasion? I’m not asking that we all wear the latest Armani creation but at least wear something appropriate for the occasion. Tse! And wearing campaign colors in the proclamation is not right. This should have been one reconciliation moment. Sorry, Yellow Folks! Drop it! Hahaha!

2.) This was also my 1st time to listen to some of the Senators and Congressmen speak. I don’t know some of them. I cringe listening to them speak in English. I would have preferred that they spoke in Tagalog na lang. They should learn how to speak English from our Call Center Trainors.

3.) While the Senators and the Congressmen were delivering their privilege speeches, no one seemed to be interested in listening to them. Not even Enrile. Not even Nograles, who they would constantly refer to as “Mr. Speaker and/or Mr. President” many, many times. Not even the crowd. But they should not blame the crowd too. Jinggoy is boring. The next speaker was also boring and so is Neptali Gonzales. Most of them talked about stuff that is so five minutes ago. No Kennedy moments. Not even a Martin Luther King. Thanks to Nene Pimentel who provided some much needed antics. PCOS, President Cory’s Only Son brought down the house.

4.) Prior to the start and even during the ceremonies, the GMA cameraman has been focusing the camera on to Vice President Binay’s daughter, who has been walking back and forth on the floor. I did not know who she was. I just found out when she went up to the rostrum to join her father. I was going dizzy with the camera following her every move. Nothing against President Binay’s daughter, but why can’t she sit and have peace and harmony with the chair? I felt like smacking that cameraman for punishing us viewers.

5.) Obviously, my brothers and sisters in the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity came in droves. The shout of “Binay! Binay!” is deafening. What a moment. Finally, we have a first black Vice President. The Binay Family picture is great! What a proud moment that was! I soooo love it! But I can’t help noticing the GMA News Chat Room, there were a number of comments that said “Binay will be President soon!” What the hell does that mean?

6.) These journalists need some heavy scolding and then spanking. And more scolding. They were a group of lousy listeners. It was not a good show of journalistic talent when the world is tuned in. It is obvious that they came to the press conference armed with their canned questions like obedient pupils. All they did was ask their prepared questions and did not bother to listen to the question and answer that was going on. President Aquino must have responded to the same questions over and over.

7.) There were questions from the journalists that belong to the “duh” column. As I have said, part of the problem was that, these journalists were not listening very well. For example, there was this journalist who asked the question when he will be able to solve the problems. If he had only listened, President Noynoy explained his priority very methodically and that is, to understand what the problem is before they can offer any fixes. Go figure.

Let’s talk about President Noynoy Aquino.

1.) He was candid. He’s the President of the Philippines. He’s allowed to be arrogant but instead he referred to this one journalist as “boss”. Wasn’t that nice?

2.) He seems to demand privacy from the journalists on personal matters. When asked about the possibility of wedding bells, he responded: “We have to ask Madame Auring”.

3.) He was very magalang with his consistent use of “po” sometimes punctuated with “naman” as “naman po”. Touch of Cory’s strict upbringing?

4.) He was accommodating. When one security personnel and/or presidential assistant said that the President still has to attend to other things, the President stopped him and said that he will still take questions. And did you notice how he would respond in English if the question was in English and respond in Tagalog if the question was in Tagalog? He’s a people person! Marunong maki-bagay!!!

5.) He was very straight-forward with his response. I did not hear any paligoy-ligoy moments. When asked about Bangit, he responded: “Bangit will not be Chief of Staff”. When asked about the Ombudsman, he responded: “I am not happy with the Ombudsman’s performance”. Where he is staying: “I’m not staying in Malacanang.” Oath of office? “With an Associate Justice”. Even his response on the 1st 100-day question was a step by step, methodical response.

6.) Methodical was his approach to problem resolution, not quick fixes and I like it. In auditing, the auditor must be able to understand the problem completely before he can propose any adjustments and solution.

7.) Interestingly, the journalist from NHK would ask a similar question that was raised earlier and responded to many times. When President Noynoy Aquino said: “I have already responded to that question. Can we just ask them to provide you a copy of my response?” The NHK journalist responded: “No, I want to hear it from your, Sir” or something like that. Bastos! Hahaha! President Noynoy was obviously irked with the unapologetic response that he said: “I’m sorry, I’m not a jukebox”. Bee! Buti nga! That should serve as warning to all the journalists. Be a good listener. The President is not joking. You missed it once, he will repeat it. You missed it the 2nd time, he might still repeat it for slow learners. Do it the 3rd time and you won’t know what will hit you. So, do your assignments before you face the President. He was not the abnoy or the psycho that some people tried to picture him out.

8.) He has a trait important to a leader. It’s decisiveness. That’s what I want from a leader. Put your foot down when needed. He sure needs it for the next 6 years for I’m sure he will soon be surrounded by a new breed of suckers.

But these are just words, phrases, sentences.

We will have to wait for the corresponding actions to validate those words.

But it’s a good start. And I’m very happy with our President. I’m very impressed. It’s worth all I suffered during the campaign.

And President Noynoy should be happy since he was officially proclaimed at exactly 3:41pm in Manila, 3:41am in Philadelphia. Now that an easy number 8, and this number augurs well. Madam Auring told me.

So Mr. President, for a job well-done,

Go have a smoke.

Viewed 17670 times by 4107 viewers

Uy! Ka barrio, kung first timer ka dito sa Barrio Siete o kaya naman ay napasaya ka ng aming mga writers, inaanyayahan ka naming mag subscribe sa RSS Feed namin! Pwede mong gamitin ang Google Reader para dito.

Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress Plugin

reynz is one Uragon and a Filipino-American, has many years of public accounting & auditing, broadcast investments, housing tax credits and equity investments as his background. Based in the US, he maintains his personal and humor blog at reyna elena dot com. A graduate of Aquinas U, he went to GWU and Temple U in the United States.