Pride, the Good Book tells us, comes before the fall. And if President Noynoy Aquino should be remembered for anything, it is for his predilection for making prideful vows that he can’t keep —and then finding all sorts of excuses to absolve himself when he fails to deliver on the promises that no one forced him to make.
Even the most junior of customer service representatives, after all, know that it is always best to under-promise and then to over-deliver. This is explains why, for instance, utility company employees will always say that your disconnected power, cable or telephone line service will be returned after a much longer time than it actually takes to do so.
But Aquino has never felt any obligation, during his entire term, to deliver on the promises he has so boastfully made. And to make things worse, the President never apologizes for getting everybody’s hopes up and then letting them down; it is only when people remember one broken presidential promise or another that he dispatches his spokesmen to dream up all sorts of “palusot” for his failures.
The latest example of Aquino’s penchant for bragging and then not delivering is, of course, his administration’s abject failure to build the extension of the LRT Line 1 from Baclaran in Parañaque City to Bacoor in Cavite province. After saying that he would build the train line extension or get run over by a train by the end of this year, Palace flacks are now falling all over themselves to explain that Aquino was only joking, in his strange, Aquino-like way.
But does his lame attempt at levity two years ago really excuse Aquino from delivering on his promises? I should hope not.
If you agree that Aquino was merely joking about completing the LRT extension, what then would you make of his promises—delivered in oh-so-serious State of the Nation Addresses—to make the Public-Private Partnerships his showcase economic program and for national self-sufficiency in rice? Was he joking then, as well?
How about defending Recto Bank in the Spratly Island Group like it was Recto Avenue, another boast made by Aquino in another Sona, before the Chinese started their massive reclamation projects in the disputed Sea? Didn’t a group of 50 young campers who recently sailed all the way to Kalayaan Island to declare it an inalienable part of the Philippines show more determination than Aquino in defending our territory?
Some Palace observers have noted that Aquino’s boastful nature is aggravated by his absolute trust in his own non-performing, mediocre people, who tell him that something will be done even if it doesn’t have a chance of happening. So when Joseph Abaya tells him that the LRT extension is a go, or Proceso Alcala whispers that rice self-sufficiency is at hand, or Rogelio Singson says that the country is “overflowing” with new infrastructure, or Alan Purisima texts him that all is well in Mamasapano, Aquino just accepts it as gospel—without independent verification, because he is just too lazy to check facts for himself.
And when the smelly stuff hits the ventilating appliance, it is Aquino who has to take the fall. Which is only fair, because he likes to shoot off his mouth even before he is sure of what he’s talking about.
But then, Aquino has always talked a good game. And all these years, he has proven that he has just enough persuasive powers to promise anything that he thinks will please the crowd—even things he, in his heart of hearts, probably knows he can never deliver on.
This is why such a promising presidency, when it started, is now engaged in full-time excuse-making and blame-tossing as it nears its end. All things considered, perhaps Aquino should just make good on his promise to have himself run over by a train.
That’s something he can really do, if he sets his mind to it. And it will prove once and for all that there is a promise that he can actually keep.
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And vengefulness. Let’s not forget that, either.
Two years ago, at around this time of year, I wrote about how President Noynoy Aquino narrowly averted a military rebellion by agreeing at the last moment to a one-night-only wake for former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Delfin Bangit at Camp Aguinaldo. Aquino, through his handpicked overall military commander, General Emmanuel Bautista, earlier disallowed the tradition of allowing the ex-AFP chiefs that unique privilege simply to spite a dead general.
Bangit was forced to retire by Aquino before his term ended because the general was closely identified with Aquino’s predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Bangit had replaced General Victor Ibrado as AFP chief of staff in March 2010, a mere two months before the elections that installed Aquino to the presidency.
The general died three years later of reported multiple organ failure. I’m sure his ailment was aggravated by the heartbreak he experienced after being pressured into quitting before he officially retired.
Such is this President’s vengeful nature. May he experience the same fate.