The Philippines is in dire need of a statesman

What Filipinos need is a leader who will unite the people, critics and supporters alike.

What they need are politicians who are always thinking of the greater good for the greatest number of people.

What they need in government are those who are not reluctant to admit that they are wrong.

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What they need in government are those who seek truth and are transparent about everything they do.

What they need in government are people who will not pass the blame to others for errors that they have control over.

What they need is a leader who can galvanize the people into doing things they thought they could never accomplish.

What they need is a leader who treads the fine line between conviction and stubbornness, and is able to discern both.

What they need is a leader who will not put his/her petty grievances above the more pressing issues of the day.

What they need is a leader who knows how to be reliable when and where it counts.

Very important, what they need is a leader who understands the concept of command responsibility.

Most important, what they need is a leader who is fully aware that the world does not revolve around him/her.

noynoy_aquinoObviously, the Filipinos didn’t get any of that with their current president Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino.

Whether it’s what the Filipinos wanted back then in 2010, is another question entirely. At that time, they gave him the sympathy vote simply because his mother died.

It’s 2015 already, and BS Aquino has further cemented his legacy as a leopard that cannot change its spots. Some of his critics call him “Boy Sisi”, Mr. Blame, because he usually finds a way to mention or blame things on his predecessor Gloria Arroyo, and/or the Marcoses, especially if it was a thing he had adequate control over.

Just ask the pope; he had to sit through that cringe-worthy speech BS Aquino gave that was supposedly meant to “welcome” him. Well, it welcomed him to the reality of what the leader of the Philippines is really like.

And just recently, we hear from him again, albeit delayed, in the aftermath of the Maguindanao incident where more than 40 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) under the Philippine National Police (PNP) lost their lives. Not only did it take him more than 36 hours after the incident to make a statement – in contrast, the French president made a statement just a little less than 2 hours after the Charlie Hebdo shootings were reported – he also was not present when the bodies of the dead arrived at Villamor Air Base last week. He was supposedly at the inauguration of the Mitsubishi plant and couldn’t be counted on to change his plans.

And as if that wasn’t enough, although he gave a eulogy for the dead SAF members, many of the kin and those in attendance didn’t feel satisfied with it. It seems that one of the things they were most frustrated about was that he made it about his family again.

It shouldn’t have been. The kin wanted assurance that they would get justice for their dead, plain and simple. At this point, if I were one of them, I couldn’t care less about the man whom they died pursuing; I would be more interested in the men who killed them.

BS Aquino quite simply does not get that. He never will.

And this is the kind of leader that the Philippines has to suffer for about one and a half more years.

Filipinos would do well not to throw away the next opportunity they have to select their leaders.

6 Replies to “The Philippines is in dire need of a statesman”

  1. Yes, people of this sort are infuriating. Thank you for pointing this out.

    Why does it have to be about THEM all the time? What about the people who died for his cause?

    In the film “Guardians of the Galaxy”, I remember Rocket Raccoon saying something like:

    “Everybody’s got dead people! That don’t mean he’s got any right to get more people killed!”

  2. Throw this idiot Aquino out…he is useless and has a large Ego. He does not care, people are murdered. And, he does not even give an iota of sympathy…

    It is his fault, he let a suspended Police Chief take over the operation. Roxas is at fault , also. He knew the operation; and is now hiding…Hang these Traitors!!!

  3. People are weary of politicians who make promises they are either unwilling or unable to keep. Society longs for statesmen but it gets politicians.

    Statesmen are leaders who uphold what is right regardless of the popularity of the position.

    Statesmen speak out to achieve good for their people, not to win votes.

    Statesmen promote the general good rather than regional or personal self-interest.

  4. “in dire need of a statesman”

    There are plenty out there but they are unelectable,and with the present state of the country’s electorate,I don’t think even a Jorge Mario Bergoglio will make it.

    I do believe foreign intervention and participation is the way to go, otherwise, Filipinos are in for a long wait for good governance.

  5. My point of view is that every leaders we have has the ability to become a statesman. Unfortunately their resistance to the temptation of power are put to the test. Most of them succumb to that temptation and switch from a leader that prioritize the welfare of their nation to the extreme opposite. Maybe we need someone who can resist the lust of power. Someone who can make use of that bestowed power to its original purpose and use.

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