President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
After sitting through hours of meetings in Malaca帽ang, President Benigno Aquino III laughed off a tweet that he and constant date and television host Grace Lee were seen taking a stroll in a mall around the time he was discussing the affairs of state with his economic managers Thursday.
The President, criticized and even parodied for his alleged inaction on the spate of oil price increases, said鈥攊ronically鈥攖hat those who spread the rumor had nothing better to do.
鈥淢edyo nakakatawa rin nang konti (It鈥檚 a bit funny). Earlier, somebody posted a tweet. I supposedly spent the whole day in Greenhills with a date,鈥� Mr. Aquino told Palace employees on the occasion of the 115th anniversary of the Office of the President.
Malaca帽ang officials said the President spent the day attending meetings with the National Economic and Development Authority board and with Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. Mr. Aquino himself said one discussion was on extending Line 1 of the Light Railway Transit from Manila all the way to Bacoor town in Cavite.
Over the past days, the Palace has been releasing pictures showing the President at work in the wake of 鈥淣oynoying鈥� protests being staged by militants. The protests have already drawn the attention of even the foreign media, including the online Wikipedia.
鈥淣oynoying (pronounced noy-noy-YING) is a protest gimmick in the form of neologism which critics of President Benigno Aquino III have used to call attention to what they claim is the 鈥渄o-nothing鈥� work ethic and inaction of Aquino over emergency response and rising oil prices,鈥� the Wikipedia entry read.
鈥淭he term is in reference to Aquino鈥檚 nickname, Noynoy 鈥� [It] also taps into old Philippine folk tales about Juan Tamad, who tries to get by doing the least amount of work to get by,鈥� Wikipedia said.
It said: 鈥淪ince its first documented usage in October 2011, the term was used as a form of protest against Aquino, wherein protesters performed 鈥楴oynoying鈥� poses such as sitting idly while resting their heads on one hand and doing nothing.鈥�
鈥淭he act had since gone viral on the Internet, while Malaca帽ang was confident it will not catch on with the public,鈥� it said.
Nothing better to do
Reacting to the tweet posted under the account name RealEduManzano, the President said: 鈥淢eron talagang walang magawa (There are really those who have nothing better to do). We have to find jobs for these people because they invent stories about anything. But let鈥檚 just laugh that off.鈥�
Such rumors, Mr. Aquino acknowledged, were part of 鈥渙ur society.鈥�
RealEduManzano later retracted and apologized for the tweet. 鈥淪orry for the confusion everyone. In local parlance, nakuryente ako, and I was foolish to tweet unconfirmed tsismis,鈥� it said.
鈥淎nd to those who have posted personal attacks against me, I sincerely understand. Lord knows I鈥檝e given you a lot of material to work with,鈥� it added.
Nun defender
While lauding the youth militants for being active again in politics through their 鈥淣oynoying鈥� antics, a respected activist nun yesterday defended Mr. Aquino from accusations that he was a 鈥渄o nothing鈥� president.
Sr. Mary John Mananzan, chair of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), said she appreciated the youth鈥檚 creativity in coming up with new forms of protests but insisted that the President was doing his job.
鈥淔or me, they have the right to do that. The young people have the right to express whatever their sentiments are. Well, they are using new forms of protest to call the attention of the President to what they consider as issues that are being addressed,鈥� Mananzan said on the sidelines of the World Council of Churches gathering at Traders Hotel in Manila.
鈥淥f course, I also understand that P-Noy (Aquino) will be a little bit hurt by it because it鈥檚 also not true that he鈥檚 doing nothing. For me, his work management is just different,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 better to have this than have someone who鈥檚 working all the time but is not doing it for good. Isn鈥檛 that the case? Maybe, we shouldn鈥檛 evaluate just through the volume of work. For me, we should be truthful,鈥� she added.
Corona trial
Mananzan said the young activists should acknowledge in particular Mr. Aquino鈥檚 zeal and persistence in going after graft and corruption and impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.
鈥淔or me, his pursuit against corruption is something that we should acknowledge. Of all our presidents, it鈥檚 only now that we see something like the arrest warrant against GMA (former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo),鈥� she said.
鈥淚 welcome P-Noy鈥檚 persistence (in going after Corona) but that does not mean that the other issues would remain unaddressed,鈥� she added.
鈥淔or me, impeaching Corona is a big thing. That鈥檚 not just one issue among others. That is a big issue. And if you really succeed in impeaching Corona, then you鈥檒l have this message that crime does not pay.鈥�
Working with militants
Malaca帽ang said it was fine with the party-list group Bayan Muna being part of the administration coalition in Congress even with the role of allied militant groups in Noynoying protests.
鈥淥bviously, there are certain advocacies that we are in agreement with and some don鈥檛 agree with us, for instance, the legislated wage hike. That鈥檚 something that they are pushing for,鈥� the President鈥檚 spokesperson, Edwin Lacierda, said in Thursday鈥檚 news briefing.
鈥淲e have no problem working with Neri Colmenares. He鈥檚 part of the impeachment team. So we will have issues that we will have to disagree and issues that we can agree on,鈥� Lacierda said. He was referring to the Bayan Muna congressman who is serving as a prosecutor in the impeachment trial.
He said the administration would not be wary of Bayan Muna following the rash of protests.
鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 all part of the legislative mill so they debate whatever they would like to advocate. It鈥檚 subject to the legislative process. And, as you know, in the legislative process it鈥檚 the majority that gives the action,鈥� he said.
鈥楶assing fancy鈥�
Noynoying is just 鈥渁 passing fancy,鈥� Lacierda said.
鈥淭he vast majority knows what this administration is doing,鈥� Lacierda said in apparent reference to the most recent survey by Pulse Asia.
He said the economic indicators could prove the President鈥檚 detractors wrong.聽 With a report from Philip C. Tubeza