Don’t look now but the embattled administration of Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III, on the run since it fatally botched the public relations management of the fallout from the massacre of 44 police commandos in January, is now bringing out its top communication guns. Noted Filipino blogger, the eminent Manuel L Quezon III (MLQ3) who was once famous as the outspoken pioneering figure in the early days of the Philippine blogosphere, has broken his five-year self-imposed sabbatical on issuing his once widely-read biting commentary on current events and raging issues.
In his piece The Mourning After published today, MLQ3 lays out a manifesto of BS Aquino apologism that echoes much of what’s already been said by lesser writers in his camp. That’s the trouble with (1) being a bit rusty and (2) being late to the game. It just comes across as a lame waste of space.
MLQ3 tries to make a case that President BS Aquino’s flaccid presence in the crucial hours (that then became days) following the breaking of the tragic news of the massacre can all be attributed to the “stoic” character of the president which owes its roots to the president’s own personal experience with personal family tragedy. We all know where that is headed, and MLQ3 indulges nonetheless.
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On the delayed addressing of a stunned Filipino public immediately following the massacre, MLQ3 issued the following now-tired-from-overuse excuse…
I suggested to him that he needed to go on TV immediately because the country needed a consoler-in-chief. [President BS Aquino] looked at me and said he owed the country the facts. He proceeded to interrogate the top brass; and only after this did he address the country.
And, get this, no excuses coming from the President and his staff will fly without the obligatory blame chaser: “I only understood why he said this, when it later emerged that prudent measures he had ordered to prevent mass slaughter hadn’t been carried out.” Ouch! goes the former SAF commander yet again. MLQ3, it seems, is reading from the official script. Poor guy. To be fair, the Noted One is an indentured blogger nowadays, see.
On the brouhaha surrounding the presidential no-show during the arrival of the fallen commandos’ remains at Villamor Air Base, well, you know that feeling of dread when, in the middle of a conversation, you realise you’re about to be told a story you’ve already heard like a million times? Brace yourself for this…
And [BS Aquino] told a story: when they came home from Boston, they barely had any time to be together with their father for the last time: could we imagine what it was like to see his grisly remains for the first time? He would not deny them time; the families must have time to come to terms with their grief; he would not bring a circus to intrude but instead, see them when his public role was proper –to deliver a eulogy—and his presence would serve a purpose beyond ritual: to assure them concrete plans were in place to provide material security to families confronted not only with grief, but anxiety about their future.
What is astounding is that whilst there was a lot of words on the stuff President BS Aquino did to be seen to be contributing to assuaging the grief of the Fallen 44’s family and friends, the silence over the lack of resolve to hunt down and punish their killers remains deafening. Again MLQ3, as a Malacanang guy, likely has his hands tied. As long as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Malaysia remain “partners” with the Philippines’ “Central Government” in the continued push to get the scam that is the Bangsamoro Basic Law passed into law, talk coming from the government about who killed these men will remain a no-go zone. MLQ3’s piece mirrored that reality. No surprise there.
The fact remains, the key questions in this national crisis still remain unanswered:
(1) Why does President BS Aquino remain silent and non-responsive to calls to bring the perpetrators of the atrocity to account for the massacre of 44 Filipino police officers?
(2) Why was suspended police chief Alan Purisima given command of the operation despite his current administrative status?
(3) Why wasn’t Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and acting police chief and Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina squarely within the loop when the ill-fated operation was executed?
and…
(4) Why single out PNP-SAF commander Getulio Napeñas Jr now?
MLQ3 may be the best guy in Malacanang’s bloated “communications” team to paint lipstick on a pig. But, at the end of the day, Leonardo da Vinci himself may be called to do the same and said pig will still be a pig.
Laughable attempts have been made in the last several weeks to paint President BS Aquino as a “stoic” leader who, now in MLQ3’s words, is faced with “a situation that is not conducive to wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve, or demonstrating weakness, not just in public but even in private.” MLQ3 along with the apologists that had come forth with the same excuses before him over the course of this crisis seems to be mistaking stoicism with just plain garden variety lack of emotion perhaps bordering on psychopathy.
There is a saying: It is usually the simplest theories that turn out to be the soundest. Seeing the thousands of words being dished out by Malacananang’s in-house army of “communications” professionals and its extended “family” of inbred apologists across social media and the blogosphere, and spun into pained blathering of excuses and justifications has got LIAR written all over them.
Such a waste of precious Filipino wordsmiths all for the cause of propping up an illegal peace deal and, ultimately, saving Uncle Peping’s hacienda from long overdue comprehensive agrarian reform.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Yung lolo niyan yung nagsabing “It is better to have a country run like hell by Filipinos”… Like hell, it is! Bwisit!
agree ako diyan 🙂
Looks like they’re desperate. And still liars. I think sometimes, you can tell if someone’s a liar. They use so many flowery paragraphs when what they mean can be summed up in few words: Leave PNoy alone (to the tune of Chris Crocker’s ‘Leave Britney Alone’)! But really, I hope even more middle class people have realized what a liar government we have right now.
I hope the Philippine PR industry doesn’t suffer a bad reputation because of this.
Come post-2016, I wonder if he’ll apologize for being a “starstruck ignoramus.” hehe
Looks like indifferent is being marketed as stoic now…
Stoicism has never been a strong Pinoy tradition. You see it in the sort of humour Filipinos embrace and the sort of public puemotional responses they deliver particularly in funerals.
And I thought “stoic” was panned as being “suplado.” hehe
Sorry, MLQ3, but I have never seen so much garbage in so many words. You just confirmed what is going around the grapevine that you are all in total panic mode. Is it true that Vampire Valte is leaving, but somebody threatened her? Is it true that that the normally civil relationship betw Balai and Samar groups has now become a shouting match every other day? Is it true that the only reason why no one has resigned is not because of PNoy but because each one is guarding the 2016 war chest — no one wants to give way? Guys, you are defending something indefensible; better know when to cut your loses; stay with principles and the country. Forget the money and the person/s. Anyway, staying w/ Noynoy will be a kiss of death in 2016.
MLQ3, you are just wasting your time. Most of the Filipino Bloggers, do not Buy, what you are Selling regarding your Boss Aquino.
STOIC? No, the guy in very Insensitive. The murder/butchering of the 44 SAF police/soldiers, has nothing to do with Aquino’s parents or Ninoy Aquino Jr. murder. Don’t point out, the so called “martyrdoom” of Aquino’s father. It is already a Boring statement and propaganda.
Aquino, Roxas, Caduwag, Purisima, etc…are all accountable of the murder/butchering of the fallen 44 SAF. They all profess “ignorance” to Cover their Filthy Asses… I do not believe an iota of it, that they do not know about the SAF operation.
Aquino’s refusal to receive the bodies of the fallen 44 SAF, rubs SALT to the wounds of the nation.
Aquino’s refusal to go after the MILF/Al Queda/ISIS murderer/butchers, shows, he is collaborating with the enemies of our country.
It is very clear on the You Tube Video of the massacre of the fallen 44 SAF; that the butchers/murderers were enjoying the killings…
The president is in a quicksand but he hardly notices it. The more he tried to do control damage of the botched “Mamasapano” rescue of the trapped 44 SAF policemen, the more he got stuck in the quagmire. His communication “experts” were all puny and ineffective– after all, when lies are being peddled, no amount of expertise can effectively communicate them as truth.
saving hacienda luisita failed. it’s the BBL and nothing else could save luisita through ancestral domain stated in the sharia law. it’s their ‘LABAN’ from the beginning. well, at least, he already ransacked the philippine treasury more than triple the amount for it. bad family name legacy written in philippine history.
The truth will never be known.Was this a CIA Black Op? was it a ‘Blsck Swan’ or ‘False Flag’ event?
Having someone outside the admin is a way to be able to say:”We were out of the loop and a way to avoid culpability.Something Filipino politicians think they are good at, but aren’t. Once you’ve see their limited play-book it is easy to spot the bullshit…and this event is a boat load of it if there ever was one.
Next, a Senate ‘Blue-ribbon’ committee will be empowered to look into the details and will be on TV for all to see the charade.BUT the committee will have no ‘prosecutorial powers’ and will just be another laughingstock event, as the country is famous for doing.
Villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged.
Gotta tell, how much money in millions/billions was paid to MLQ3 for his stupid act?
I have a feeling that many noytards are actually in the advertising and PR industries. So to say, they are in the business of lies. For example, we’ve seen Emily Abrera, a known ad executive, in some meetings supporting BS Ack. Ricky Carandang I hear has a PR firm still helping the Yellows after he resigned from government. Jim Paredes also I hear has a PR firm, which explains his Yellowness. So to keep their businesses running, they need customers. Those customers are from the political patronange provided by the Yellows.
Why do I feel like a civil war is looming in the Philippines?
And I will be forced to fight a war with no purpose except for dying because I got killed. Die for my country? Die for whom? What’s up with that?
It’s sad that this never-was country is diving deeper into deepershit territory. But the thing is, where else could we go? To the moon? 😛
I never thought lack of leadership would be tolerated like this, where in other places you’d get fired for incompetence.
@Isopropyl:
Do not Die for your country….make the Enemies of the Republic, die for his cause.
As U.S. Gen. George Patton stated: ” No damn bastard, won a war by dying for his country…he won the war by letting the other damn bastard die for his country…”
That’s a good one! Yeah, make bs and his ilk do that for malaysia.
Pinoy should read “The Parable of the Judgement of the Nations and its been called “the story of the geat surprise.” – Its not about honor and glory but about what people do for their felloe human being, especially those who are weak. The criterion of judgement is love: love for GOD shown in one’s love frro one’s brothers and sisters.
As usual most of the comments only choose to rant as is the norm on social media. Unlike most I DID choose to read the entire article from MLQ3 and if one decides to actually do so, might read it differently.
The President has always lived in the public eye and has the burden of watching everything he says since his father’s death. It has made him stoic because as the only man left in his family he had to take the role.
It also says that his character also takes long views of situations which is not very suitable for those with short attention spans, but is very good for a leader similar to what we expect from good leaders in industry.
Every leader will almost always be a lame duck approaching the end of their term because those who want the job have to distinguish themselves and how better than distancing one’s self as far as possible as no one really like to vote for the same party consecutively as history will reveal.
Aquino is slow in thinking; because of his low IQ and EQ. It is not good for the country. A You Tube video became viral; with the Islamic Radicals, happily butchering the 44 SAF/soldiers. What did he do? He went after those, who posted the You Tube Video. Not the Islamic murderers/butchers…he still want to have peace with them.
His father’s death has nothing to do, with the massacre of the 44 SAF…It is just a stupid diversionary tactic or squid tactic on his part. He is not Stoic, he is just plan Stupid…
Hateful non-logical replies like this does not deserve an intelligent rebuttal. Haters gonna hate hate hate.
@David Deluria:
You cannot handle the truth?
hello…earth to david…your eyes are open yet you do not see or refuse to see…your ears are open yet you do not hear or refuse to listen..best is to keep your trap shut
This is not about being stoic or stupid, just a simple case of self preservation and fraternity code of “walang iwanan” for the benefit of a very special friend Purisima.
@David you mf noytard perhaps you should tell that to Pnoy since his vindictiveness knows no bounds he deserves more than what he is getting. That good for nothing retarded fool should be mobbed and beaten to within an inch of his pathetic life for all the atrocities he caused the filipino people to suffer… the same goes for all his cohorts
His father was not a martyr. It’s the yellow yards that were quick to float the idea. Ninoy did nothing for this country. Anyone knows anything good he did??? Tell me/us.