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es, I would give US President arack Obama a ” and P- oy a C” for their respective pre-press conference speeches.

)or starters, everyone I know who listened or watched the event made the same comment that President oynoy Aquino was reading his speech,” was reading too fast and in a hurry perhaps e cited, tense or worried about time and protocol) and the worst thing of it all was that P- oy as a speaker was so mechanical that he was like a )ilipino driver going through stop” signs at every corner.

Even as we all tried to take in the content and conte t of P- oy’s speech, the truth was he often read” so fast that we couldn’t quite catch up while trying to absorb and digest his material. Unfortunately, when a speaker does not do Mustice to the written word, he is also telling his audience et’s Must get it over and done with” and so loses his listeners. The irony is that President oynoy used to be a good and interesting speaker who used to make sure that his audience was engaged and got the message. *iven his historical performance and how poorly he performed at the state visit of Obama, our dear r. President gets a C.”

US President arack Obama on the other hand gets a for many reasons. +e started his speech with an e pression of concern and commitment of support for Americans hit by a natural calamity in Arkansas. As far away as he was from America, the US President took advantage of an international event covered by media to do what was e pected of him. In doing so, Obama also showed us, and those watching worldwide, how a US official conducts himself abroad in response to a calamity back home. +e also called our attention to their” situation and their” need. +e certainly knew the platform and used it well.

President Obama did not give Must another speech,” he verbali ed his administration’s policy and perspective concerning global conflict, diplomatic support for allies and stake holders, he addressed specific points of interests and concern and in the end he clearly managed our e pectations or at the very least laid down his government’s terms of engagement for the Philippine government in relation to China and regional interests. The best part of it all was that he did it with authority, confidence, yet doing so like a welcomed guest rather than one of those terror teachers” we all encountered during college. ore importantly he did not sound or speak like a bureaucrat or a politician.

It was quite interesting listening to President Obama’s speech and it made me wonder Must how P- oy was hearing and taking it all. When Obama began with his shout out to the folks of Arkansas, I could not help but recall how P- oy and his administration conducted themselves during Typhoon olanda. It was almost as if Obama was saying o politics, no suspicions and accusations or fault- finding. Just plain and simple We Care and we are there. I could almost imagine Ambassador *oldberg silently but frantically signaling on’t *o There ” to the guest of honor. ut then again, P- oy’s Waterloo a.k.a. Tacloban” is not the concern of Obama.

The best part I believe of r. Obama’s speech was where he declared his government’s policy and position regarding the role of the United States in the region. They are not the Super Cop of the world anymore and it’s Must not worth having their sons and daughters shot and killed abroad because of other country’s conflicts. They are not interested in getting into a Super Power rawl Must because some neighborhood bully is picking on their former little brown brothers.” In other words the message is *o sort it out among yourselves while we watch by the fence Must so nobody gets themselves killed. In line with this categorical statement, it is easy to believe that the Americans sincerely have no intention of setting up their own” military bases in the Philippines.

Interestingly, Obama’s position about having the guns but not being trigger happy makes him the best poster boy for esponsible *un Ownership in the region.” In contrast the Philippine presumption that the US will come to our rescue and sacrifice their sons and daughters brings out our age old habit of being tiga buyo” or squabble starters who habitually call for reinforcements or relatives. What remains to be seen in all of this is how the P- oy administration will realign their rhetoric and posturing after Obama’s visit.

If Obama’s speech quality slipped a little, it was at the point when he tried to score brownie points by pandering to the )ilipino’s pride for their adobo and kusinero” skills by talking about how lumpia and adobo is a familiar offering during white +ouse dining, all thanks to the White +ouse chef who has )ilipino roots. There was also the passing mention of the role and significance of the Catholic Church that must have sounded pleasant to the faithful but was also reflective of the clear efforts of White +ouse or US embassy writers to be politically correct to the point of being patroni ing. )ortunately for Obama and his handlers, the back patting and patroni ing statements were short and few enough not to be dwelt on by pundits. ut as speeches go, its something that writers and speakers must be careful of because a beautiful speech can be ruined the minute the audience see, hear or smell the bullshit. That patroni ing lines were what cost Obama his A.” Overall his speech was honest and sincere until religion and adobo got the better of it.