Tony Lopez not biased against Noynoy Aquino (Condensed Letter to Inquirer)

The Inquirer asked me to reduce my Feb 18 letter to them to just 481 words. Here is my
Feb. 20, 2010 letter:


Mr. Isagani Yambot

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 and Noynoy Aquino.
I introduced Gibo as a bar topnotcher, has a Harvard masters in law, and seven presidents were bar topnotchers; Villar “someone who is a self-made tycoon, former speaker, former Senate president and former future president, probably”; Joseph Estrada the most popularly elected president ever with the biggest number of vote-margin; Dick Gordon mayor, builder of Subic, action man, and senator; and Eddie Villanueva, as “someone who wants to produce a miracle”.
To answer the first six questions, the order was alphabetical, from A to Z starting with Aquino first, each time, and Villar the last.


To answer the next six questions, the order was reversed alphabetical, Villar first; Aquino last.
For the two-minute closing, I went back to alphabetical order – A to V. since we came from V to A. After the first set of questions, a staffer of Noynoy Aquino handed me a note, “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 his canned thoughts? Can’t Noynoy think on his feet?
After the forum, instead of his program of government, Noynoy showed clippings of my columns to newsmen, indicating he came to the forum primarily to confront me and not to debate. Is this our leader?
I have written of Noynoy’s lackluster record as a congressman of nine years and senator for three years; little management experience, except for a brief period as a salesman of Nike shoes, shirts and shorts; and not having managed a household, because he has none.
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