‘Noynoying’ is [the RAs are] annoying

We should not have to relate at all to this annoying political gimmick. But it is a good enough gimmick that it has gotten some media mileage.

It is a sub-plot to a more prolonged campaign against the government by its political enemies. Because these people are having a hard time attacking government policies, they resort to ad hominem attacks on PNoy, stooping so low as to question his mental condition.

National democrats, both above and underground, have contributed a gimmick.

I attend many Cabinet meetings with the President. I can say with full confidence, PNoy is neither lazy nor mentally challenged.

Even more so than his Cabinet secretaries, PNoy faces an avalanche of policy and “fire fighting” issues daily, so like all of us, he requires summaries of papers submitted to him. When he needs to understand a policy issue better, he reads the voluminous papers behind the summaries. At meetings, he asks detailed questions which show full grasp of the policies we have to decide on.

Unlike some of us in the Cabinet, PNoy bears the burdens of office, the challenge of having to decide on so many different policy issues, without being harassed. Having worked with PNoy during the campaign as part of a small group that advised him on issues, I have seen him grow into the presidency quickly.

Mistaken for sloth

He has done this without losing his relaxed, good natured self. He has not taken on the wangwang “I am a powerful man” stance that many with less power so easily take on.

It is PNoy’s refusal to take on the mannerisms of powerful Filipino politicians that people mistake for sloth. People are not used to powerful politicians who do not behave the way powerful politicians behave. His critics beware.

It is PNoy’s leadership style, his easygoing, non-threatening personality which is a major reason for his high trust ratings. It is his willingness to give his Cabinet room to initiate reform policies that has enabled this government to implement major reforms in less than 2 years.

The more significant the reform, the more losers among the powerful.

When government corporations cease to be milking cows for board members, when military officers stop getting pabaon, there are many people who get unhappy. While there are many anti-corruption reforms in place, public attention has been focused on GMA’s imprisonment, on the Corona impeachment trial. Part of the criticism against PNoy is that he is preoccupied with GMA and Corona, and not paying enough attention to the economy.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The bulk of PNoy’s time is spent on economic issues. But getting at GMA and Corona, earlier Merceditas Gutierrez, is necessary to dismantle the apparatus of impunity put together by GMA for her cabal.

Other groups want Corona to remain so they can make last ditch attempts at fending off reform in a court headed by a known enemy of reform. These groups range from bureaucrats defending their perks and bonuses, to Catholic Church conservatives, to corporations who want to retain government subsidies.

The Natdems

National democrats are another matter altogether.

They see reforms as obstacles to the realization of their illusory revolution. But they cannot oppose specific reforms with massive public support. They cannot oppose the government’s victory on Hacienda Luisita redistribution, so they push for a collective title for the farmers.

Transform Hacienda Luisita to a Maoist commune?

They have failed to come up with a coherent stance towards the government.

So they resort to “Noynoying” which cannot be checked for veracity because it is, after all, no more than a cheap publicity gimmick. – Rappler.com

(The author is head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission and former president of Akbayan)