The following is a letter I sent to the Inquirer Feb. 18, 2010
Mr. Isagani Yambot
Publisher, PDI
I deny that I was biased against Noynoy Aquino at the PCCI Presidential Forum Feb. 16. He knew the speaking order and he was introduced properly.
I said he has “a very good pedigree, the grandson of a national hero, a son of national heroes, a congressman for nine years and senator for three years.”
The forum had—a five-minute presentation by each of the candidates, two rounds of six questions, and a two-minute summation. For the opening speeches, the order of speaking was drawn by lot. Gibo Teodoro was the first to speak,followed by Manny Villar, Noynoy Aquino, Joseph Estrada, Richard Gordon, and Eddie Villanueva.
I introduced Gibo is a bar topnotcher, has a Harvard masters in law, and seven presidents were bar topnotchers; Villar as “someone who is a self-made tycoon, former speaker, former Senate president and former future president, probably”; Estrada as the most popularly elected president ever with the biggest number of vote-margin; Gordon as mayor, builder of Subic, action man, and senator; and Villanueva, “someone who wants to produce a miracle”.
In replying to the first set of six questions, the order was alphabetical, from A to Z starting with Aquino first, each time, and Villar the last.
For the second set of six questions, the order was reversed alphabetical, V (Villar first) to Aquino (last to reply each time).
For the two-minute closing, I went back to alphabetical order – A to V. spiel, since, in the previous round the speaking order was V to A, I went back to alphabetical order, A to V. After the second round, a staffer of Noynoy Aquino handed me a note which said, “the format is getting boring. Pls. shuffle the respondents.”
That is exactly what I did for the final round.
Noynoy complained but I told him “a President should be prepared for surprises.” Besides, does it really take that long (the ten-minute difference between the first and last speaker) for a presidential candidate to assemble canned thoughts?
What I have been saying in my columns is that: one, Noynoy has had a lackluster record as a congressman of nine years and senator for three years; two, he has had very little management experience, except for a brief period as a salesman of Nike shoes, shirts and shorts; three, he has not even managed a household, because he has none; and four, yet, this is a guy who wants to manage the Philippines, with a population that is the 12th largest in the world, a government budget of P1.5 trillion, state workers numbering two million, $54 billion in foreign debts, and two insurgencies—communism and Muslim separatism, both the longest-running in the world.
I also wrote that the Cojuangcos have not given the 6,400-ha. Hacienda Luisita to its farmers although this was a condition for the behest loan they obtained to buy it in 1957.
Tony Lopez
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1 comments:
Let me declare at the outset that I'm not a supporter of Noynoy Aquino in this election--I'm going for the candidate who advocates "zero corruption" in government.
Notwithstanding your claim of fairness, i believe you have been biased against the Aquino family since Ninoy Aquino's days. The WORDS you say (e.g., in introducing Noynoy vis-a-vis the other candidates) may hide your intentions, especially if these words are read on the printed page. But the WAY you say it, and your body language, belie it. You admit to having written scathing articles on Noynoy and his family. That confirms, not subtracts from, your bias; you haven't shown evidence that you've written similar articles on Aquino's closest (at that time) rival, Manny Villar, such as the C-5 controversy, his fake claim to dirt poverty, etc. It's clear to see that when the subject is Villar's faults, your pen turns dull; when it comes to Aquino, it reverts itself to a sword, with deadly poison in its wings. Or are you using not one but TWO pens--one FOR Villar and one AGAINST Aquino? It doesn't take a genius to see where your inclinations lie. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."
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