Out with the Old, In with the New... President, that is.

Today we welcome with open arms a new President, Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III.

I really hope the next six years will not be another six years (or more in the case of GMA who was in power for longer than the regular 6-year term) of hardships, scandals, corruption and sheer moral decay... like what we saw in the regime of the outgoing president who seemed to have completely forgotten the meaning of "DELICADEZA".


We all know what took place in GMA's administration... I don't think I need to come up with a long list only to remind people of the personalities and by-words that surfaced to demonstrate the past administration's sheer lack of "kahihiyan" (shame) and "palabra de honor" (word of honor). Think, "Hello, Garci"... ZTE... Jun Lozada... and the many other scandals and displays of corruption and blatant abuse of power which have dismayed me enough to forgo voting for the past 10 years or so.

Yes, I do not vote (the last time I voted was when Fernando Poe, Jr. ran for the presidency) nor do I go to rallies that seek to over-turn administrations by appealing to an incumbent's sense of decency to step down. I know they don't have one, so you can say I don't like wasting my time.

After Cory Aquino, I have long given up on this country's holier than thou politicians, especially those who love having their picture taken while "pretending" to be deep in prayer or while carrying a baby in the midst of the country's poorest of the poor... "pretending" to care. Yeah, right!

I'd like to believe I have the gift of ascertaining a person's sincerity. Amongst friends, acquaintances, or anyone who catches my fancy, I have never been wrong in my "impressions".

I see it in the way they move, their facial expressions, and the way they are with other people. In the case of politicians and other celebrities, I see it in how they have lived their lives in "public", the way they speak, the way they shake people's hands.

While I don't know P-Noy personally, I have "followed" him since the day they announced Cory's illness. I have read about him, watched him on TV, trailed with him from the wake up to the ride to the cemetery, then during the period of his indecision on whether to run or not and finally when he announced that he will run.

I can see that there really is goodness in him. I cannot vouch for his integrity or decency as a person but I can definitely see sincerity.

I also do not know how serious he is in his relationship with Shalani Soledad (my bet is that he will never marry), but I can see he is serious about trying to do his utmost best to improve a lot of things in this country. In terms of charisma, he is the "Obama of the Philippines".

The thing is the Philippines will never attain what Singapore and other progressive Asian countries have attained unless the people themselves shape up and help P-Noy or whoever it is sitting in Malacanang to turn things around. Ridding the country of corruption is a good start, though, and I pray P-Noy will have enough political will power to really see it through.

Goodluck, P-Noy and V-Nay!