While my family and I were eating at Kan-anan By The Sea in Talisayan, Misamis Oriental, on our way home from Cagayan de Oro, we found this flyer for the Noynoy Aquino campaign:
The flyer presents six reasons why Noynoy and Mar should be our next president and vice president. Let’s dissect it, just for fun! I will quote each talking point then offer commentary. (You can offer your own opinions, too—it’s called the Comments section for a reason.) I will quote everything verbatim, exactly as it is written on the flyer. If anyone’s interested the flyer says “Donated by: Andrew Tan and Carlos Pedrosa”.
Let’s look at the introductory text first:
APAT NA BUWAN MATAPOS MAGDEKLARA na tatakbo siya sa eleksyong pampanguluhan, halos isa sa bawat dalawang botanteng Pinoy ang patuloy na pumipili kay Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Ito ang laman ng halos lahat ng surbey na isinagawa ng SWS at Pulse Asia, ang dalawang nangungunang survey outfits sa bansa.
Bakit kaya ganito ang pulso ng publiko? Bakit kaya napupusuan ng karamihan si Noynoy at Sen. Mar Roxas ng Partido Liberal na maging sunod na pangulo at pangalawang pangulo ng ating bansa?
This is what people in the advertising industry call the Bandwagon Appeal—everyone’s buying Havaianas, you ought to get a pair; the iPod is all the rage, why don’t you have one; Noynoy and Mar are leading the surveys, you should agree with popular opinion!
Interesting questions, too. Bakit kaya gustong gusto ng taumbayan na maging pangulo si Noynoy? Let me add my own questions: Hindi kaya na-inspire lang sila sa nakitang pagkakaisa ng masang Pilipino nung namatay si Cory at ayaw nilang mawala ang feeling na naramdaman nila noong August 2009? Sa tingin mo, tatakbo pa ba rin si Noynoy bilang pangulo kung kapiling pa natin si Tita Cory ngayon? Paano kaya kung Shamalamadingdong ang apelyido ni Noynoy at hindi Aquino—ano kaya ang magiging hitsura ng surveys?
All very interesting questions. Alright, now onto the reasons. Number one:
Cory's and Ninoy's face on a flyer for Noynoy Aquino.
Walang bahid. Subok na ang paglilingkuran ng mga Aquino sa bayang Pilipino. Ibinuwis ni Ninoy ang kanyang buhay alang-alang sa ating kalayaan. Ibinalik at pinatatag ni Cory ang demokrasya sa bansa. Sa kanilang paninilbihan, hindi sila nagnakaw ni isang kusing man sa kaban ng bayan kaya nanatiling walang bahid ang kanilang pangalan. kaya ibabalik ni Noynoy ang malinis at walang dungis na pampanguluhan sa Malakanyang.
HU-WHROAAAAAAA!!! NINOY AT CORY, LAH-BAAAAN, LAH-BAAAAN! This has always been my biggest problem with the Aquino campaign: they are all too eager to drop Ninoy’s and Cory’s name at every opportunity. I know Ninoy died for my freedom; I know Cory fought to give me democracy. Now tell me about Noynoy. I hope you read that first reason thoroughly: “Ninoy and Cory were a couple of top-notch Pinoys to whom we all owe a lot. Noynoy, by virtue of the fact that he is their child, will be a good president.” One need only look at Kris Aquino to question that logic. And besides, if you can believe that, you can believe that Gloria is, genetically speaking, a good president, too.
Next reason:
Walang duda. Walang kaduda-dudang mas maraming magagawa sina Noynoy at Mar laban sa kahirapan. Bilyon-bilyong piso— na dapat sana’y napupunta sa pagkain, trabah, pabahay, gamot at edukasyon ng mga mamamayang Pilipino—ang ninanakaw ng mga kurakot sa pamahalaan o nasasayang dahil sa kapabayaan ng mga nanunungkulan. Kaya makakaseguro tayo na hindi oonsehen nina Noynoy at Mar ang mga kapus-palad na higit kaninuman ay siyang nangangailangan ng tulong at pagkalinga ng pamahalaan.
This seriously made me go, “aneh?!” Basahin ulit upang maliwanagan. *reads* Wala pa rin, eh. Let’s condense the paragraph into one sentence: “Corruption and mismanagement have plagued our government for so long now, therefore we can be sure Noynoy and Mar will change that.” Oha, again: ayon sa flyer, dahil daw talamak ang kurapsyon sa gobyerno, hindi raw magiging kurakot sina Noy at Mar. Please, parang awa nyo na, explain the logic of that in the comments. PLEASE LANG.
Reason Number Three:
Tatanggalin ang tiwali. Sa nakalipas sa 12ng taon, ang Pilipinas ang kinilala bilang most corrupt sa buong Asya. Dahil dito, pati dangal ng Pinoy ay ipinanakaw na ng mga mapagsamantala sa kapangyarihan. Subalit likas na marangal ang sambayanang Pilipino, kaya hindi papayag si Noynoy at Mar na patuloy na maghari ang mga mandarambong sa ating bayan.
Truisms galore. Thanks for flattering the Filipino people by calling us “likas na marangal“, but I’d much rather see if you’ve already shown that you walk the talk.
Reason Number Four:
Itatama ang mali. Higit sa lahat, may takot sa Diyos at sa batas sina Noynoy at Mar. Kaya itatama nila ang mali. Pagkat wala silang bilyon-bilyong pisong isinusugal sa katakot-takot mga TV at radio ads —perang siguradong babawiin din sa atin kung maluklok na sa kapangyarihan. Dahil ang utang, dapat bayaran; ang puhunan, kailangang bawiin.
Oh my, who could they be referring to here? I would have expected Noynoy Aquino (the son of a martyr and a president, since they brought it up anyway) to be above mudslinging, but apparently I suck at expectations. In this regard Noynoy is no different from everyone else. And, what part of that paragraph supported their “itatama ang mali” spiel? WTF?
Reason Number Five:
Laban na tapat, laban ng lahat. Kay Noynoy at Mar, muling maibabalik sa sambayanang Pilipino ang kakayahang kakayahang umasa na may magandang bukas pang naghihintay sa ating bansa. Nakilala ang kanilang mga magulang sa katapatan sa sinumpaang tungkulin at sa Inang Bayan. Kailanma’y hindi nila sinubukang ipagbili o i-transaksyon ang pampanguluhan. Kaya sa isang labang tapat, hindi nila tayo bibiguin.
It’s the same drivel you’d expect to hear from any candidate, but alright, I’ll take it with a grain of salt. And please, stop with the whole “remember their parents” thing.
And last but not the least:
Tambalang subok, may kakayahan at paninindigan. Dalawang senador at dating mambabatas sa Mababang Kapulungan. Nanguna sa pakikibaka laban sa korapsyon at katiwalian ng rehimeng Arroyo, kasama na ang NBN ZTE, Hello Garci at GMA Fertilizer Scam. Isinulong ang pagpasa at implementasyon ng Cheaper Medicines Act na nagpapababa ng presyo ng mga gamot, at ng iba pang mga batas sa libreng edukasyon, pagnenegosyo, at consumer welfare and protection. May kakayahang pamunuan ang pamahalaan at itaguyod ang pambansang kabuhayan dahil sa kaalaman sa ekonomics at pananalapi.
None of the bills Noynoy Aquino crafted as senator passed into law (although the Aquino camp is quick to add that he did craft quite a few bills and make amendments to other senators’ bills), so it’s safe to assume that the credit for all those laws they mentioned go to Mar. Without taking that fact into account it’s easy to nod in agreement with this point. Also, take note that Mar has an economics degree from Wharton; Noy, from the Ateneo. Remember that the President does most of the hard work while the Vice President only really kicks in when the president dies, not the other way around. In view of that, I must once again forward the serious doubts I have about Noynoy’s ability to lead—doubts I sincerely hope the Aquino camp will clear for me and doubtless many other Filipinos in the coming weeks.
OK, teka, may konting epilogue pa:
Kinabukasan natin ang nakataya sa eleksyon sa Mayo 10, 2010.
Ito ay isang labang tapat; ito ay laban nating lahat.
Sa ating mga puso, dama natin kung sino ang totoo, tapat at karapat-dapat: si Noynoy Aquino at Mar Roxas, wala ng nang iba pa.
Hindi lang galing at talino, sipag at tiyaga o kakayahan ang kailangan para maiahon tayo sa kahirapan. Higit sa lahat, ang matapat at mahusay na paglilingkod.
KUNG WALANG CORRUPT, WALANG MAHIRAP!
Although I really do want to believe that Noynoy Aquino is our best bet for president, so far I’m still not sold. I’m sure many of our countrymen share this sentiment, and as we inch closer and closer to May 10 it is becoming more and more important to make a decision. The Aquino camp should begin fiercely advertising Noynoy and not his parents, and show us that he really is a capable leader by virtue of his own credentials. We continue to wait.
jay
April 22, 2010
hello. interesting blog. but do you have anything elase like “disecting villar’s tv ads”, “disecting gibo’s roots” and “disecting erap’s accomplishments”? thanks!
Dean
April 22, 2010
Actually, Jay, I want to dissect the other candidates’ flyers/campaign materials, too. Unfortunately I was only able to get hold of Noy’s. While I was writing up this blog post I realized that I like analyzing these flyers because they outline what the candidates say about themselves as opposed to what other people think about them (people’s opinions are, more often than not, biased).
If it’s of any help to you, I wrote this rambling post explaining my view of all the presidentiables.