benign0's blog

Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III continues to be beleaguered by a Supreme Court that is "'singling out' his administration". Trouble is, it's all in his mind -- a mind conditioned to squeeze every drop of equity off the victim card that is. Poor guy. He can't seem to move on and focus on next steps . According to a PhilStar.com report , Noynoy almost three weeks since the Philippine Supreme Court junked his precious "Truth" Commission remains "disappointed" with that outcome. He further laments ...

Should Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew feel insulted? The latest ululation this time from a bunch of brown-nosing bozos comparing a man with a vision to a man who cannot plan his way out of a paper bag.

The venerable Economist makes this terse assessment of Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's first 100 days in office in a 14th October report : Since taking office in June, he has proposed scant new legislation and promised little. His speeches are filled with platitudes and swipes at his unpopular predecessor, Gloria Arroyo-Macapagal. Nor is Mr Aquino obviously interested in foreign affairs; he is a reluctant flyer and has cancelled several trips abroad. "He's not a statesman," sniffs one Asian diplomat. They make other pointed observations...

In an Inquirer.net piece , columnist Jose Ma. Montelibano contributes to the defense of President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III's State of the Nation Address (SONA) which he delivered on the 26th of July to Congress. His approach -- and arguments -- were basically organised around two key pillars: (1) Taking stock of the arguments of the "members of the elite who were for other candidates" . This is basically much of the issues to do with P.Noy's lack of experience, lack of achievement, lack of intellectual depth, lack of ability to be his own man (independent of his family pedigree), and overall lack of substance. (2) Pointing out the continued popularity of the President . As expected, this has to do with the fact that P.Noy won an election determined by popular vote, came out with an 88 percent trust rating in a recent "survey", and generally is an all-around well-liked guy.

I remember as a kid in the lead up to New Year's Eve festivities lighting one of those big rebentadors expecting a loud bang after the fuse hits home. Most of the time I wasn't disappointed. But a few of them were duds that fizzled out. The street term for these duds comes to mind in the aftermath of Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III's first State of the Nation Address: supot .

The trouble with being made out to be a magician by one's handlers and disciples is that one becomes held to expectations bordering on the miraculous. Perhaps in reference to how the eminent Conrado de Quiros once likened President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III to the Lord of the Rings character Aragorn, the Philippine Left in the rallies they plan to mark P.Noy's State of the Nation Address (SONA) before Congress today will for their part complement de Quiros's take with a Harry Potter -themed effigy ...

After trumpeting that the first State of the Nation Address of President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III will be " an exposé ", Malacanang now backpedals and says it will be an exercise in " truth-telling ".

In her Inquirer.net column "Get Real", Solita Monsod is spot on about where an on-going holding of the President to account starts -- his platform . Unfortunately, Ms Monsod is having trouble finding the campaign platform of President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III ...

Goodness . Goodness is a key pillar of the "platform" that catapulted President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III onto the driver's seat. He is perceived to be good and perceived to be full of good intentions.

Time to give a bit of credit to beleaguered President-Elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III . By pompously declaring a policy of "frugality" that will see him "delegating" much of the required foreign travel of his government to his underlings, the man exhibited the "foresight" to play down any expectations of him having to meet face-to-face with stalwarts of global statesmanship early in his campaign. Imagine him standing side-by-side with the likes of the current Chancellor of Germany who is described by commentor Hyden Toro as such:

No one government or president can be associated to economic performance (good or bad) within a given period. I argued this a while back : there is no evidence of a causal relationship between who is president (or the character of the president) and economic prosperity, perhaps not even a strong correlation.

Are we really serious about "eradicating" corruption? If so, then we should start with some key performance metrics to help us track results . That's right. Measures and results. Those are two words that people who make promises tend to shy away from when push comes to shove.