First Noynoy Aquino drafts the memory of his parents’ “heroism” into the service of his budding presidential aspirations (as if being an offspring of a hero necessarily makes you one as well — but then Filipino voters tend to eat up horseshit like that). Now he outdoes even that by going further to hijack a common phrase Filipinos use to, well, describe their citizenship and general ethnic identity:
“Noypi ako“.
This is as reported by Conrado de Quiros in his latest column.
What’s up with that? Is Noynoy suggesting that our being Pinoy is all about being onboard with his political aspirations? Nice work, Beavis. You just put a check mark on one of Ben Kritz’s bullshit detection criteria outlined in his seminal piece My cat should be president! — specifically the item “crass appeal to nationalism”.
In quoting de Quiros, I could almost feel the pain that was involved in the cobbling together of a rationale to underpin that slogan:
Why “Noypi ako”?
Well, first off, Noypi is Pinoy of course, as we, the youth, kaming kabataan, often put it. I say “kami” because being young is truly more a frame of mind than a state of the body. Notwithstanding the plentiful reminders of where I am chronologically—you need colchicine and not just imagination to banish the aching in the bones—I’ve always felt young. Certainly, I don’t wallow in nostalgia and listen only to “oldies.” I’m tempted to say, like Tevye, I don’t remember growing older, but people might say that’s the very proof I have—I’m getting forgetful.
It’s time for the Noypi, or Pinoy, the young and feeling young, to ponder where he came from, where he is now, where he is going.
Ouch.
So we go back and try to answer Senator Richard Gordon’s hard question:
I don’t think so honourable Senator. Not if we are in the habit of routinely believing the kind of horsemanure thrown our way by their offspring.
You’d think de Quiros would quit while he was ahead.
But no…
[...Noynoy] represents People Power. And People Power means nothing more or less than just that, the power of the people. The power of the Pinoy or Noypi. The power of you and me. A power unleashed by the dogged pursuit of, or relentless drive toward, the fulfillment of the country’s deepest longings, as articulated, or lived and died for, by the country’s heroes, from Rizal to Cory.,
Whatever you say, gramps.
So let’s see what the honourable son-of-a-gun thinks is in store for the Filipino people given a shot to fill the shoes of his esteemed parents. Where else do I look for answers? Well, amazingly he actually has something clearly labelled “platform” splashed on his website (heck, even the URL says that it is!). Looks promising…
Or not.
I’m a bit slow nowadays. Someone already beat me to the non-onerous task of working out that there is no intelligent life on Noynoy’s planet.
Specifically:
Consider what defines an effective platform:
- Statement of problems or issues to be addressed.
- Statement of solutions or objectives to address the problems or issues.
- Rationale for choosing those solutions or objectives.Aquino states that “attempts to weaken our democracy,” “government excesses and misgovernance,” “attempts to impose a repressive government,” and “lack of access of the powerless and the oppressed” are the problems he wishes to address.
This is simply grim rhetoric in search of definitions or examples, not a valid statement of the problems or issues. Likewise his plan of action is devoid of, well, action – instead, Aquino vows to “continue to hold government to account,” “oppose attempts to impose a repressive government,” and “be the voice of” a certain vaguely-defined constituency. And why will he pursue these meaningless “objectives?” Who knows? Aquino doesn’t trouble himself or the electorate with a rationale.
Holy non-platform, Batman!
I’m kinda getting tired of hearing myself say this, but it all comes back to a simple challenge, Senator Aquino:
Don’t fret, dude. It’s not too late. You can develop one in four easy steps.
And in case you were gonna inquire, Mr. Senator, you probably can’t afford my consulting fee.
============
Join us on Facebook!
Popularity: 2% [?]
“And in case you were gonna inquire, Mr. Senator, you probably can’t afford my consulting fee.”
“probably”, how very Pinoy. hele-hele, nagpataas pa ng presyo, heheh.
Benigs:
Methinks you are giving too much importance on that De Quiros bloke.
BTW, Manolo Quezon in today’s PDI also goes overboard by writing both Noynoy and Mar “have been redeemed”
Benign0,
I have come to hate, really detest, pretty mouthings unattached to practical solutions or progress. It is like having too much chocolate, it sickens after awhile. It is the reason problems don’t get solved. Someone blathers some inane patriotic upchuck then goes back to bed, or back to laughing at the gullibility of the star-struck masses.
Joe
Precisely my fear about Noynoy.
Cory had an easy time putting up a platform: rebuilding every democratic institution Marcos undermined will fill up a whole sheet of legal paper, and tadah! Platform!
Now that they’re rebuilt, Noynoy fails to answer the “Now what?” question.
He can start with rebuilding every democratic institution Arroyo undermined.
Why rebuild something that was easily destroyed?
We owe it to ourselves, and more importantly, the next generation.
You rebuild a clumsy democratic institution then the next generation will inherit a clumsy democratic institution.
We have to learn from past mistakes and try not to repeat them. That’s part of the process of building a nation.
Granted, strengthening democratic checks and balances (e.g., moving for the scrapping of EO 464, finding ways to make Supreme Court and Office of the Ombudsman selection processes more independent) are important.
But again, if he’s able to accomplish that, what now?
Our democratic institutions can be used once more as a means of cooperating at a national level. We can then proceed to identify and prioritize the interests of the public rather than that of the few.
cvj, can you name one, just one, institution that arroyo undermined or destroyed? only specific facts, sir, no wild imaginings and generalizations.
Low Hanging Fruit are basically those improvements and innovations that can be suggested and implemented during the Measure phase (of a Six Sigma DMAIC project) when they become apparent. It is not necessary to wait for the Improve phase for the implementation as it would be an opportunity loss. Low Hanging Fruit contribution should not be considered when determining the process capability at the Control phase.
*****
“Low-hanging fruit is something visible – bad quality, unnecessary overtime, wasted materials — that we can get our hands on right away, something that doesn’t require an accounting degree to understand,” says Muller. “People walk into an orchard, and they always want to go after the low-hanging fruit first. That’s the obvious place to start in business too.”
Obvious, maybe. But also — wrong! We turned to the Fast Company Consultant Debunking Unit (CDU) to put this wisdom to the test: fruit or fertilizer?
According to Albert Pell, whose family has run Pell’s Citrus & Nursery in Osteen, Florida for five generations, consultants wouldn’t last a day in his orchard. “An inexperienced picker would pick the low-hanging fruit first,” Pell says. “But an experienced picker would know to start at the top.” The reason: starting low makes the picker’s job harder, not easier. “If you’re experienced, you rest the bag – which is around your neck and shoulders – on the ladder. You fill it as you go down, so it’s full when you get to the bottom.”
Even worse, picking the low-hanging fruit first would probably mean taking underripe fruit and leaving ready-to-eat fruit on the tree. “The lower fruit would need to be picked last to give it more time to develop,” says Eric Curry, a plant physiologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Tree Fruit Research Laboratory in Wenatchee, Washington. Curry says that most pickers go through the higher, riper fruit two or three times before they finally get to the low-hanging crop.
Joe Grant, a farm adviser at the University of California Cooperative Extension in Stockton, which offers research results and hands-on advice to California fruit growers, agrees with Curry. “When growers send pickers to the field, they don’t advise them to pick the low-hanging fruit first,” Grant says. “They tell them to pick what’s ready to pick. And the first fruit to ripen is what’s high up and well exposed to the sun.”
Harder picking and poorer fruit — not much there to recommend the consultants’ approach. But wait! According to Dana Faubion, an extension agent at Washington State University in Yakima, the apple industry is making the whole proposition of “low-hanging fruit” not only wrong but also obsolete.
“In the past,” Faubion says, “we had larger trees that required ladders. The new trees are ‘pedestrian’ trees that don’t require ladders. So instead of picking the low-hanging fruit, the industry has lowered the tree.” Now that’s thinking outside the, uh, orchard.
source: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/11/cdu.html
“…that there is no intelligent life on Noynoy’s planet.”
Dude, give the man some slack, would you? The guy is still in mourning. He’s not even a declared candidate yet.
And however you construe his ‘platform’ to be motherhood statements, the reality is a candidate’s individual platform’s planks on say poverty, national security, education, Constituional change, etc. would have to hew to those of the Liberal party, to which he belongs.
Ano ba kayo? Now that some people are doing some semblance of organized party process, you cry out for individualism.
Damn if you do, bored you don’t, eh?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattyboom/2330075668/
I dunno, dude. A lot of people in the Philippines deserve to be given some slack, specially those who work hard or consistently do the right thing but have nothing to show for their trouble.
But politicians? Deserving of some slack?
I don’t think so.
Tough luck.
Pollies do need a fair go too. But it is somewhat disturbing to suggest that the battler must be given slack by a tall poppy.
There is a 2-step process towards the determination of the Malacanang resident. The final step, of course, is the election itself which is determined by class C-D-E given the size of their vote.
The first step, though, is determined in large part by classs A and B. This first part relates to all the analyses, opening of checkbooks and negotiations that result in the determination of the standard-bearers.
Classes A (and maybe B) tend to bankroll the sure winners. Remember back in 1998, the 30 businessmen (along with Edgardo Espiritu) who supported Erap because he was a sure-win? I also remember the posters of ‘Congratulations Erap’ that sprouted along Wilson Street in Greenhills in front of the houses of the Tsinoys on the eve of his victory.
to cvj: I knew I read where Enrile ran for president primarily because so many were asking for his contributions that he decided to spend the money on himself instead. Others from classes-A and -B funded the campaigns of Raul Roco; others funded deVenecia as well as Miriam.
The only problem I find wrong with this way of doing things is that in the Philippines, you did not know who did the contributions.
Can we also same the same for Obama? Even if the poorest Democratic party members donated only $1 or $5, does that mean Obama was still bankrolled and “annointed” by the A and B classes of America?
Behind-closed-door negotiations have propelled Aquino further into being a for-president standard-bearer as party elders (and who knows who else) implores Mar Roxas to step aside. I dare say Mar Roxas’ decision is affected by him sensing that he is quite very low in the surveys.
The Hero is in every Filipino. It is in YOU. Not, in Cory Aquino,
Noynoy Aquino, etc…I feel that our long suffering OFWs are the true
Heroes of our times. They sacrificed everything, in order to survive economicaly. Because their country and their leaders cannot offer them better lives. Look inside yourself. You will discover a Hero.
Irresponsible Leadership are making all of us Heroes.