SOURCE: ANN
Manila - In Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's defence, there are these:
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Manila - In Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's defence, there are these:
One, he didn't steal the money he used to buy his new car (a second-hand Porsche). Neither did he use government money to do it, which is saying the same thing. That's what government spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and other Palace officials have pointed out. That's what senate presidenr Juan Ponce Enrile and other P-Noy (Aquino's nickname) allies in Congress have pointed out. They have a point.
That's so especially in light of criticisms that P-Noy flouted his own memo ordering all agencies to desist from buying luxury vehicles and "to be more prudent in spending government funds, especially in the acquisition of motor vehicles to maximize the utilization of scarce government resources." That is an order for the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, and various other government offices not to buy SUVs in order to deliver social, educational and health services to the poor. Which would be an exercise in irony. That is not an order for government officials to give up their family SUVs or not buy them at all. What they do outside of government, short of indulging in unlawful or licentious behavior, is their business. There is such a thing as a private life. Even for movie stars, even for public officials.
Two, it is not a brand-new car, it is a used one. It may be a Porsche, but it is a second-hand Porsche. P-Noy bought it with money he got from selling his old car, and he bought his old car with money he got from his income, paying for it in installment for several years. I don't know how much more he added to buy his new car, but he's gone about it the way most middle-class people do, by scrimping and saving. He's certainly not gone about it the way corrupt officials do, which is by suddenly finding themselves in the possession of means to procure brand-new cars, or far more luxurious items. Corrupt officials will find owning a second-hand anything, including a Porsche, beneath their dignity, or reputation as big-time crooks.
Three, P-Noy despite being half a century in this world is a bachelor, with all the associations that status brings. Not the least of them having no family to support, having no kids to send to school or household to maintain, having an income he can keep to himself. He is entitled to a few liberties, or luxuries. You want the same thing, remain single too, whether you're man or woman. We have our own special amenities, though I grant a Porsche strains the limits of the word. Some like fine wine to go with their opera records (yes, records as in vinyl), some like to own all sorts of audio equipment. I know people who own the latter far in excess of 4 million pesos (US$89,867). They are rich but not fabulously so. Those at least who are passionate about these things are not going to agree that these are not vital to their sojourn on earth.
Four, P-Noy could easily have accepted the gift of a Porsche from friends or allies, not least of them Enrile himself who ought to have one or two in his garage or his fortress in Cagayan. He did not. He bought it with his own money, and he bought a second-hand one at that.
But there's a consideration that makes all this pale in comparison.
That is that P-Noy is the President. Or more specifically since no one would have bothered if it had been (former president) Gloria Arroyo or her husband who got a brand-new Porsche, or even a fleet of them, he is the President his compatriots look up to.
Had he been an ordinary citizen, or remained a senator, people would have wondered only why, since he is not exactly impoverished, he made do with a second-hand car, whatever its brand. But he is now President Noy. His actions, for good or bad, have a tremendous impact on the national consciousness. He sets an example for others to follow. That entails restraint, that entails prudence, that entails sacrifice. Who says the presidency is not a cruel job? Arroyo might never have found it so, but then she was never a president.
Certainly P-Noy's position requires sensitivity to the public mood. Those who say that his acquisition of a Porsche, however second-hand, is ill-timed have a point. At the very time when MRT and other public transport fares are going up, it doesn't particularly do for someone the public identifies with to remind them some are luckier than others. P-Noy's example of living simply, almost austerely, making do without wang-wang (blasting sirens), having meals with one or two dishes, eating hotdog in New York instead of repairing to Le Cirque, having a Christmas party in Malaca?ang consisting of pan de sal (poor man's bread) and queso de bola (special holiday cheese), being accessible to the masa (masses), biking around his official residence, has had a powerful effect on the people, shaming as it does the rich and their opulence. This Porsche, whatever its condition and whatever the circumstances of its acquisition, could do the opposite, shaming as it does the poor and their destitution.
While at this, P-Noy might also want to be more circumspect about being seen with guns or talking about them. The image will always be far more powerful than the context.
Example is the most powerful thing there is. As every parent knows, who has seen that what she does and not what she says is what her kid will do. And as P-Noy knows, though he remains single, who has seen that what he does and not what he says is what his compatriots will do. His example has so far been laudable. Heaven forbid it is tarnished, or weighed down, by things like this. To whom much is given, much is taken. To whom much is reposed, much will be exposed. If this incident has anything to say to him, it is simply that a bicycle will take him farther and swifter down the road, the road he has taken, the road not taken, than, well:
A Porsche.
That's so especially in light of criticisms that P-Noy flouted his own memo ordering all agencies to desist from buying luxury vehicles and "to be more prudent in spending government funds, especially in the acquisition of motor vehicles to maximize the utilization of scarce government resources." That is an order for the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, and various other government offices not to buy SUVs in order to deliver social, educational and health services to the poor. Which would be an exercise in irony. That is not an order for government officials to give up their family SUVs or not buy them at all. What they do outside of government, short of indulging in unlawful or licentious behavior, is their business. There is such a thing as a private life. Even for movie stars, even for public officials.
Two, it is not a brand-new car, it is a used one. It may be a Porsche, but it is a second-hand Porsche. P-Noy bought it with money he got from selling his old car, and he bought his old car with money he got from his income, paying for it in installment for several years. I don't know how much more he added to buy his new car, but he's gone about it the way most middle-class people do, by scrimping and saving. He's certainly not gone about it the way corrupt officials do, which is by suddenly finding themselves in the possession of means to procure brand-new cars, or far more luxurious items. Corrupt officials will find owning a second-hand anything, including a Porsche, beneath their dignity, or reputation as big-time crooks.
Three, P-Noy despite being half a century in this world is a bachelor, with all the associations that status brings. Not the least of them having no family to support, having no kids to send to school or household to maintain, having an income he can keep to himself. He is entitled to a few liberties, or luxuries. You want the same thing, remain single too, whether you're man or woman. We have our own special amenities, though I grant a Porsche strains the limits of the word. Some like fine wine to go with their opera records (yes, records as in vinyl), some like to own all sorts of audio equipment. I know people who own the latter far in excess of 4 million pesos (US$89,867). They are rich but not fabulously so. Those at least who are passionate about these things are not going to agree that these are not vital to their sojourn on earth.
Four, P-Noy could easily have accepted the gift of a Porsche from friends or allies, not least of them Enrile himself who ought to have one or two in his garage or his fortress in Cagayan. He did not. He bought it with his own money, and he bought a second-hand one at that.
But there's a consideration that makes all this pale in comparison.
That is that P-Noy is the President. Or more specifically since no one would have bothered if it had been (former president) Gloria Arroyo or her husband who got a brand-new Porsche, or even a fleet of them, he is the President his compatriots look up to.
Had he been an ordinary citizen, or remained a senator, people would have wondered only why, since he is not exactly impoverished, he made do with a second-hand car, whatever its brand. But he is now President Noy. His actions, for good or bad, have a tremendous impact on the national consciousness. He sets an example for others to follow. That entails restraint, that entails prudence, that entails sacrifice. Who says the presidency is not a cruel job? Arroyo might never have found it so, but then she was never a president.
Certainly P-Noy's position requires sensitivity to the public mood. Those who say that his acquisition of a Porsche, however second-hand, is ill-timed have a point. At the very time when MRT and other public transport fares are going up, it doesn't particularly do for someone the public identifies with to remind them some are luckier than others. P-Noy's example of living simply, almost austerely, making do without wang-wang (blasting sirens), having meals with one or two dishes, eating hotdog in New York instead of repairing to Le Cirque, having a Christmas party in Malaca?ang consisting of pan de sal (poor man's bread) and queso de bola (special holiday cheese), being accessible to the masa (masses), biking around his official residence, has had a powerful effect on the people, shaming as it does the rich and their opulence. This Porsche, whatever its condition and whatever the circumstances of its acquisition, could do the opposite, shaming as it does the poor and their destitution.
While at this, P-Noy might also want to be more circumspect about being seen with guns or talking about them. The image will always be far more powerful than the context.
Example is the most powerful thing there is. As every parent knows, who has seen that what she does and not what she says is what her kid will do. And as P-Noy knows, though he remains single, who has seen that what he does and not what he says is what his compatriots will do. His example has so far been laudable. Heaven forbid it is tarnished, or weighed down, by things like this. To whom much is given, much is taken. To whom much is reposed, much will be exposed. If this incident has anything to say to him, it is simply that a bicycle will take him farther and swifter down the road, the road he has taken, the road not taken, than, well:
A Porsche.
