'TRANSPARENCY'?
[2010 PHOTO - AT
BONIFACIO HALL: President Benigno S. Aquino III met with former President of the
United States William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton in a courtesy call last year at
the Yellow Room of Bonifacio Hall. Background portrait of his mom, former Pres.
Corazon Aquino]
MANILA, JULY 8, 2011 (MANILA
STANDARD) by Joyce Pangco Pañares
- President Benigno Aquino III is temporarily holding office at the Malacañan
Palace after his old office at the Bonifacio Hall (Premiere Guesthouse) was
found to be structurally unsafe.
Mr. Aquino moved to a Palace study room, which was used by past presidents,
including the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, on June 21.
"The building underwent an earthquake survey but it was not attended since
the 1970s," he said in his speech during the 113th anniversary of the Department
of Foreign Affairs yesterday.
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office head
Ramon Carandang said the office was "being repaired and its structure is being
examined."
The two-story Bonifacio Hall, a glass-fronted building across the Palace, was
built in 1975.
It was used as the main office of Mr. Aquino's mother, the late President
Corazon Aquino, during her term.
It became a presidential office and residence under then President Joseph
Estrada.
At present, it also houses the office of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa
Jr.
FROM THE BLOG OF raïssa
robles
inside Philippine politics and
beyond
Awful but genuine President Noynoy Aquino photo goes viral on
the web By Raissa Robles July 4, 2011 · 56 Comments
A highly unflattering picture of PNoy, released by the presidential palace,
has reaped over 200 mostly negative comments on the social networking site
Facebook.
I was drawn to look closely at it, not only because of the awkward tilt of
President Benigno Aquino's head, but also because of the posted comments,
criticizing the large crystal ashtray and box of cigarettes on his nearly empty
desk, and the shabby chic wallpaper on which the presidential seal was
displayed.
The general observation made by the commentators were that the office lacked
presidential dignity. The ash tray and cigarettes on PNoy's desk showed he was
violating the new No Smoking Law. And his nearly empty desk was proof of a
do-nothing presidency.
See for yourself below:
Official photo from Malacañang
To me, what is happening is a chipping away of the President's image. In the
long run this could reduce his credibility and the people's trust in him to
perform his duties and functions and deliver on his promises. Statistically,
this is often measured through popularity and trust surveys – where his numbers
have been dipping.
My Facebook friend Buddy Cunanan said:
"I just came from Malacanang today. I went incognito on a tour of the Palace
and saw the officer where Quezon, Quirino, Marcos etc worked and made historic
decisions…the offices looked and felt presidential. There was a sense of destiny
and power and fate in those rooms. At the risk of sounding overly-negative, what
the hell is with this guy's office?? It's pathetic. It conveys none of the
grandeur and greatness of the offices of yesteryear. How sad".
My Facebook friend Luwi Cheng, who had posted the photograph, replied:
"Buddy, i already commented on this tacky interiors almost a year ago. I
thought it is just a temporary office but it looks like the president is
comfortable about the looks of his office. pordyosporsanto, the wallpaper
is a remnant of the era when his mother occupied that building! and don't tell
me this is part of his austerity program. i am sure there is a budget for his
office maintenance and improvement but why oh why he he taken into liking that
tacky wallpaper that is not even fit for a powder room in today's contemporary
interiors!"
To which Buddy answered back:
"OMG. This is such a lousy photo. Is it just my imagination or does this
President really have no decent photographs?? How/Why did they allow this photo
to be released?"
Yes. Why?
But before I go any further, let me explain why I'm writing about what others
might call trivial pursuits when there are more serious things to write about
like – what is the President doing about reducing poverty and extra-judicial
killings.
To me, what is happening is a chipping away of the President's image. In the
long run this could reduce his credibility and the people's trust in him to
perform his duties and functions and deliver on his promises. Statistically,
this is often measured through popularity and trust surveys – where his numbers
have been dipping.
Luwi Cheng correctly pointed out that PNoy's photo contradicted the
government drive against smoking:
"I cannot understand why MMDA the chairman of which was appointed by him,
will wage a vigorous campaign to stop smoking when the poster boy for smokers is
aquino himself! Here we can see the blatant dichotomy of this administration
that professes to stop smoking in public and yet, the president himself is one
big smoker himself as attested by the picture. Now, is that not stupidity in the
higest order?"
Two other commentators questioned PNoy's work ethic, based on the emptiness
of his desk.
Patricia Ilagan said that in the Australian hospital where she worked as an
administration officer,
"even my desk and the desks of executives i've been into were/are never sooo
uncluttered! i thought they said he has piles of paper on his desk to go through
daily? liars!"
Based on the photo, Sylvia Cenon Sana concluded that PNoy was lazy:
"siya ang sinuntok ni Inday Sara Duterte at ng magtrabaho. By the looks of it
he is not a working President. What i can see he is just pretending sitting down
and doing some work but actually after photo taken just got up straight to his
playroom complete with toys."
And so I checked the authenticity of the photo.
Photo is authentic
Yes, it's genuine. Manolo Quezon, the Undersecretary for the President's
Strategic Planning Office, confirmed to me today that the room in which PNoy was
photographed was indeed his official study – last year.
Aside from asking Quezon if that was indeed PNoy's official study, I also
asked him – "Why is the wallpaper flowered? Was this his mother's old study?
Where is it in Malacañang? Why are there no mounds of paper on the desk to show
he's hard at work?
The historian in Quezon replied:
"That's the one with ricky (Carandang)? And es (Executive Secretary Paquito
Ochoa)? That was taken many months ago. The room is the aquino room in bonifacio
hall (guest house) where fm (Marcos) was staying when ninoy (Aquino) was killed;
where cory held office; which was renovated as eraps (Estrada's) bedroom; where
(Renato) de villa, (Alberto) romulo, etc held office during gma (Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo); and where the president holds office. The wallpaper dates to
the estrada administration. I can't recall the actual event when that photo was
taken but might be around october or even earlier last year."
More checking revealed that the photo above was in the same batch that an
official photographer must have taken that day of Carandang, Ochoa and PNoy.
Newsbreak had the same photo above, and this one below:
[President Benigno Aquino. Presidential Communications
Secretary Ricky Carandang
and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa pose for a
photograph
PHOTO from Malacañang Palace]
I asked Quezon to explain where Bonifacio Hall was, and whether that was the
building opposite the main palace. He explained:
"bonifacio hall was formerly known as the premier guesthouse, originally the
servants quarters. In 1975 the marcoses gave lots in cogeo to the palace staff
and turned it into the guest house where they stayed during the periodic
renovations of the palace: most especially 78-79 when they demolished and
rebuilt the palace, in 81 when air purification equipment was installed and in
83 when fm was ill. Cory held office there, estrada renovated it adding the twin
canopies patterned after the canopy in kalayaan hall; and ermita and all of gmas
executive secretaries held office there. Gma by proclamation renamed the
building bonifacio hall in 2003."
But Quezon told me that PNoy was no longer holding office in that room
because the entire building was now being checked for structural soundness.
Does an empty desk denote laziness?
I noticed that Quezon did not reply to my last question - Why are there no
mounds of paper on the desk to show he's hard at work?
And so I looked for the answer.
Interestingly, here's what I found: United States President Barack Obama has
the same nearly empty desk that PNoy had, minus the ash tray and pack of
cigarettes. See below:
US President Barack Obama - PHOTO courtesy of Free
Images
US President Barack Obama - PHOTO courtesy of Free
Images
While pictures can speak louder than words, pictures have to be
compared to other pictures for a more accurate interpretation.
The comparison of Obama and PNoy's desk tend to show that the bareness of a
desk is not a gauge of lack of hard work or industry.
Also, PNoy's photo was taken last year when no smoking ban was in place.
But I agree with you, Luwi. THAT office looked tacky, especially for a male
head of state.
As for PNoy looking awkward, yes he did, but that doesn't still make him an
"abnoy" (abnormal) as some of his critics continue to call him to this day. PNoy
is not the most photogenic president, unlike Ex-President Arroyo.
Still, there are some photos where even Mrs Arroyo looks strange like this
one:
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
But ugliness or handsomeness ought not to be the basis for judging a person's
character. Remember, the devil Lucifer was the handsomest guardian angel in the
heavens, according to St. Thomas' Summa Theologica.
I'm sure you and I have photos we have torn and thrown because we look ugly
in them. Look, PNoy's cousin Gilbeto Teodoro has a similar awkward tilt of the
head in this photo. Doesn't it make Gibo look somewhat gay?
PNoy's cousin, Gilberto Teodoro
But he's not, right?
Categories: Politics, President Benigno Aquino III - Tags: Gilberto Teodoro, PNoy, US
President Barack Obama
VIEW ABOUT HE AUTHOR: http://raissarobles.com/category/about-me/
From: http://raissarobles.com/2011/07/04/awful-but-genuine-president-noynoy-aquino-photo-goes-viral-on-the-web/
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