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Stop the Pinoy crabs from undermining our big gains
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo
The Philippine Star 2012-06-12
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It’s very glaring that President Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) has been getting dramatically contrasting reviews from foreign media versus our local media. P-Noy has been getting widespread approval assessments in foreign media while to Pinoy crabs in Philippine media he’s still projected as dictatorial, underachieving, crony coddler and so forth.
The foreign media assessments are backed by facts. Bloomberg, New York Times/International Herald Tribune, BusinessWeek, CNBC, to name a few, will not report a very rosy description of our country based on fiction. Many of the crabs in our media keep repeating wild accusations like a mantra but their assertions are usually devoid of facts. One of them is certainly lying.
Among the high points our country has gained in the eyes of the world during just two years of the P-Noy administration are the political will to eradicate corruption, the improved fiscal policy that’s now reducing leaks for graft and corruption while providing more money for the vital CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) program and the K + 12 education program, the improved environment for foreign investors and the removal of dangerous signs of social tension created by the unlamented Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) regime.
Two years ago, we were deep into cynicism. We stopped trusting our institutions after the GMA regime undermined them by the then climate of impunity. Many of us wanted to go to another country just to escape our greatest fear of a social explosion or a civil war. In just two years, P-Noy has reversed that and made us a major investment attraction to the rest of the world. In just two years, P-Noy restored people’s trust in their institutions, especially after the ouster of Renato C. Corona as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
P-Noy restored our self-confidence in shaping our future. If not for the support we gave him, P-Noy could not have stood up to China the way he did — earning the added respect of the world for doing so. Under GMA, many of our countrymen were like rats seeking to abandon a perceived sinking ship of state. Under P-Noy, we transformed our country into a budding tiger economy, which is how the world sees us now, and we feel patriotic enough to be able to stand up to China, the bully of the South China Sea.
Under P-Noy, our Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are fast rebuilding its capability to defend our shores from external aggression. That’s what happens when there’s no graft and corruption that used to sidetrack sizeable amounts of the AFP budget into private pockets. Under P-Noy, crime incidence has gone down dramatically and many of the criminals behind these crimes are now being brought to justice.
Rarely do we get a president that has not been hounded by financial scandals after spending two years in office. President Cory was clean all throughout her administration but we know that despite her honesty and integrity, some in her administration still managed to make sizeable nest eggs for themselves. Under P-Noy, neither he nor his cabinet members have been tagged in a financial scandal.
Scanning the negative views of crabs in mainstream as well as in social media, one gets to see various types of critics and detractors. There are the deep-seated P-Noy haters. These are the types who will never see anything good in P-Noy, as most haters are driven to such a negatively rigid state of mind.
There are the known mercenaries of media and they’re consistently undertaking demolition efforts against P-Noy. There are the politically motivated moves of P-Noy’s opponents who’ll destroy a power wielder even if he happens to be doing good things for the country. Theirs isn’t an agenda of improvement but of sheer lust for power.
One of the biggest handicaps that a Philippine president lives with is the lack of discernment of many Filipinos — the result of the Information and Education Gaps. This lack of discernment of many of our countrymen had allowed the rise to power of false messiahs and the undoing of good presidents. The crook with a lot of money to buy media mercenaries can easily make a good public servant look bad. Every time this happens, we Filipinos end up suffering the double whammy — the rise of crooked elected public officials and the fall of those who could have really moved our country forward.
Another big handicap that a Philippine president learns to live with is the bad effects of our damaged culture. Presidents Elpidio Quirino and Carlos P. Garcia were both nationalists and wanted to promote a truly Filipino economic policy. Both Quirino and Garcia were toppled by presidential candidates that had the backing of the US and on the ground operations by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). If we had better media reporters then, our nationalist presidents could have won reelection and accomplished their visions for our country. Two good presidents were lost with our active cooperation.
We Filipinos will have to rid ourselves of our colonial baggage and also stand up to bullies like China. Both will be impossible dreams if we persist in being party to undermining our best leaders. Our biggest national security threat today isn’t China. It’s Filipino crabs, with their damaged culture.
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Shakespeare: “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.”
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