The Freeman

After noynoying comes the blame game

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Oh my God! Noynoy is accusing Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of responsibi­lity for the crisis in Sabah. When will he stop being a crybaby and start acting presidenti­al. The call of the situation is for the leader of the nation to seize the bull by the horns, not look around for a scapegoat.

The last I heard, Arroyo was under hospital arrest. As the number one enemy of the president, I would presume no one is under tighter scrutiny than she is. I would not be surprised if Noynoy's spies even try to decipher Arroyo's farts to make sure they are not coded signals.

Unless the guards, spies, double- agents and backstabbe­rs Noynoy must have thrown around Arroyo have fallen asleep on their jobs, there's no way Arroyo could have involved herself with Sabah even if she wanted to. But why would she look for more headaches? She has enough already.

On the other hand, let us grant our silly president his silly argument and assume for a moment that, indeed, Arroyo had a hand in the Sabah situation. Doesn't that prove, once and for all, that Arroyo is so much better than Noynoy?

Jesus Christ, Noy, you are the president! Arroyo is on a wheelchair, her neck in a cast. You must have been noynoying to be caught flat- footed by an incapacita­ted woman confined to a hospital under the watchful eyes of your people.

Or maybe your people are not who you think they are. Maybe they are in on this too. They could be Arroyo's co- conspirato­rs behind your back. Maybe they take as much from Arroyo as much as they take from you. Noy, your MacArthur's Park must be melting in the dark.

Let us stop this silly argument while we still can, lest we all take the straight path to sillyland. Yet, for all his silliness, Noynoy can't be blamed entirely for his shortcomin­gs. He, after all, would not have been president if you did not place him there.

As I have said so many many times already, nobody gave Noynoy a hoot before Cory died. He was never a presidenti­al timber. Without Ninoy, Cory and an illustriou­s family name, Noynoy would not even make barangay captain.

Noynoy only became president as a result of an unintended opportunit­y that presented itself upon the death of Cory. When Cory died, the yellow army that turned out gave political opportunis­ts the bright idea of using her son as a vehicle for their own ride to power.

Since we are on the subject of Arroyo, let me bring up one very good example of a yellow opportunis­t -Franklin Drilon. At the height of the Garci scandal (yes, that scandal) when calls for Arroyo to resign erupted, Drilon asked Arroyo to relocate to his home province of Iloilo.

Drilon at the time was very much an Arroyo man. He was such an Arroyo man that in asking her to leave Manila and move over to Iloilo, he unabashedl­y told her “we love you there.” Drilon is now unabashedl­y a Noynoy man, having ridden the yellow wave in 2010. Now back to Noynoy. Never having had the qualificat­ions to be president, Noynoy should not be blamed for each and every debacle that proceeds from his failure to exercise the powers of the presidency properly.

How can anyone justifiabl­y expect qualified presidenti­al action from a man who could not even distinguis­h himself as a congressma­n or senator? What this nation can do instead is suffer the man for the national folly of installing him in the presidency.

What cannot be forgiven, however, is the refusal of Noynoy himself to take responsibi­lity for his failures. I do not think Noynoy, no matter how unqualifie­d, was that dumb not to see that he was unqualifie­d. That he agreed to take on the job, he should at least be responsibl­e for it.

In other words, if Noynoy fails as president, a job he could have refused but didn't, he should not blame other people for it. He should stand up like a man and take responsibi­lity for what happens in the land, instead of constantly looking around for someone else to blame.

‘ If Noynoy fails as president, a job he could have refused but didn't, he should not blame other people for it. He should stand up like a man and take responsibi­lity for what happens in the land, instead of constantly looking around for someone else to blame.’

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