The "noisy minority" Noynoy prefers not to hear

-
In a toast to a "better 2011", Philippine President Benigno "Nonoy" Aquino III referred to a "noisy minority" as one of two challenges faced by the country in the months ahead. According to Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigal Valte, this was made as "a statement of fact". This she said in defense of her boss who made the glib statement in front of "members of the diplomatic corps, Cabinet, judiciary, Congress, bureaucracy, and civil society representatives and several members of minority group in the House of Representatives".

Congressman Edcel Lagman observed how "President Aquino marred the New Year celebration in Malacañang which is traditionally known as Vin d’ Honneur by making a crude partisan tirade against the political opposition".

Actually, this is quite flattering as it means that Noynoy actually hears this "minority" voice. Trouble is, he prefers not to listen to it.

I'd be careful if I were Noynoy. History has so far proven a simple concept:

The popularity of an idea has never been a strong indicator of its validity.

It is indeed disturbing to consider the possibility that the most powerful man in the country may routinely be confusing popularity with validity. Perhaps, too, this may be the reason behind the President's animosity towards the state judiciary. After all, the judiciary is the only branch in the Philippine government that derives its mandate mainly on the basis of their members' qualification to hold office and dispense its services and not by virtue of the popular vote.

Justices after all make decisions based on what is logical and most likely to be valid based on that logic, and not by pandering to what is popular and certainly not simply dismissing what is in the minority.

Comments

  1. Anonymous9:30 pm, January 09, 2011

    Downplaying the voice of the opposition eh? Reminds me of the Soviet Union's Pravda.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular this week

Filipinos cannot progress if they cannot follow even simple guidelines

-
Image
A noted blog commentator once made an assertion that the Philippines will never be a great nation unless Filipinos learn to live by the principle of the "rule of law". Indeed, some people even insist that none of the calls by certain sectors of Philippine society for a system change like a shift from a Presidential to a Parliamentary system or even constitutional amendments will work to uplift the status of the nation because Filipinos simply cannot follow the "rule of law."
Read more

Noynoy Aquino and his Porsche

-
Image
When the President of the Philippines buys himself a Porsche , his spokesman needs to emphasize that "personal funds [were used] for the purchase". That's the sort of society that the Philippines is -- a society where presumption of thieving intent always trumps benefit of the doubt . It seems that even the squeaky clean image of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III fails to break a mindset forged in the furnace of banal thievery of Philippine society.
Read more