What the President of a Country Should Be…in my humble opinion

What the President of a Country Should Be
…in my humble opinion
By Apolinario Villalobos

As a president of the country, the person is expected to make sacrifices in many forms. Having been born and still living in a third world country, such as the Philippines, I have witnessed the rise and fall of my poor country’s presidents, and how the current one performs. My humble opinion is based on my keen observation, thanks to the eyes and ears that God gave me.

1. The president must have a family of his/her own – a wife/husband, children. This way, he/she will have a feel of the effect on his/her family every time there is an economic crunch. He/she will also deeply feel how it is to lose a loved one, such as a son and a daughter. And most especially, instead of spending his/her free time in playing computer games on his/her tablet or cellphone, the available quality time left can be spent playing with his/her children.

2. The president must know what he/she is talking about. What comes out of his/her mouth should be sincerely felt by the heart and well- analyzed by the mind. What he/she mumbles must be honestly-minced words. In other words, he/she must have intellectual integrity.

3. The president must have a strong conviction. He/should not rely 100% on his advisers, secretaries, consultants, siblings, classmates, hobby buddies, to avoid developing a close relationship with a BFF (best friend forever) due to “unquestionable trust”. He should not be overpowered by the “gratitude” every time he/she makes decision.

4. The president should not have the habit of delivering speeches hinged on empty promises and wishful thoughts about projects that are all just on papers and still in the mind. He/she should not unfairly claim the projects of the past administrations.

5. The president should not surround himself/herself with personally chosen assistants – cabinet heads who he/she thought are intelligent and pro-active, but proved in time to be indolent, insensitive, and with questionable common sense and intelligence. If proven to be “useless”, he/she should remove them immediately to give way to deserving ones, so that agencies will not be left “headless” or without chiefs….though in reality, they operate as if they have none, anyway.

6. The president must have a direct concern over the activities under his/her administration and not just rely on “reports” of his/her cabinet secretaries who tend to whitewash submitted papers. This is important, so that he will not accuse anybody of just fooling him, later on, in order to free himself/herself from the clout of “command responsibility”, if an operation gets twisted. To do this, he/she must have the habit of waking up early just before the sun rises. And, most importantly, he/she should not turn off his/her cellphone before going to sleep!

7. The president must not be fickle-minded, so that he can stick on his statements in whatever situation, time or when he is delivering speeches, especially statements vocalized on the first day of his assumption of responsibilities.

8. The president should be brave, so that every time he/she delivers a message, the perception would be that he/she is serious about his message and means business.

I am humbly aware that there are so many other “should be’s” and “must be’s” which I have overlooked. Viewers are free to add…

Malacanan people should stop mumbling wishful thoughts….

Malacaῆan people should stop mumbling wishful thoughts….
By Apolinario Villalobos

Every time people in Malacaῆan say something, especially about the “good works” they have done, eyebrows are raised. The statements are embarrassingly eliciting guffaws, giggles, laughter. There is for instance something on poverty which is implied to have been reduced, or crime rate that has been checked, or energy problem that is being resolved, or economy that is on the rise, or unemployment rate that has been reduced, etc. etc. For one who is not blind, deaf and dumb, all those are of course, wishful thoughts!

Filipinos, except the ass lickers in Congress and other nooks of the government, know for a fact that surveys are just numbers and not facts. How can those at the palace by the Pasig River say that poverty has been checked when the minimum wage got stucked way below the poverty line while the prices of prime commodities have not been returned to their former affordable level, or steadily and stealthily rise under the noses of the so-called guardian agencies like Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Agriculture? How can they say that unemployment rate has been reduced when every year, the number of standbys balloons as great number of fresh graduates march out of university and college portals every year with no jobs in sight?

On the issue of energy, it is only now when the summer season is fast approaching that the government is in a quandary on what to do, despite the current administration’s having all solid five years, but they did not lift a finger. The president relied on the input of his “bright” secretary of Energy who has the tendency to make panicky statements. As a last resort, they asked Congress for an emergency power! The said agency is even still in a limbo on what really must be done, as no fixed solution is in sight. On the other hand, alarming statements are issued by the Energy secretary to condition the mind of the Filipinos for the blackouts that should be expected!

When we were in elementary, every time we had tests, our teachers would order us to pass our papers “finished or not finished”, when the bell has rang. For this administration, it is not “finished or not finished”, but just “not finished”. But the consolation of the president is that his hands are verrrryyyy clean with all the constant washing!

Mga Rebelasyon sa Pre-fight Press Conference ni Pacquiao at Mayweather…at ang oportunidad ng mga okasyong may media

Mga Rebelasyon sa Pre-fight Press Conference
Ni Pacquiao at Mayweather
…at ang oportunidad ng mga okasyong may media
Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Impressive ang venue ng presscon nina Pacquiao at Mayweather para sa kanilang bakbakan. Marami rin ang mga rebelasyon. Si Pacquiao, ginawang magician ang Diyos nang sabihin niyang ginawa daw siya “from nothing into something”. Wala man lang nagbulong sa kanya na sana ay “from nobody into big somebody”. Lahat kasi ay natulala sa kabonggahan ng okasyon na animo ay pang- Grammy Awards…may red carpet pa! Si Mayweather ay talagang tuso, dahil hindi nagpatalo kay Pacquiao. Trying hard si Mayweather sa pagsalita na parang pastor, para bang gustong ipahiwatig na hindi man siya nagbabasa ng Bible o nagpi-preach tulad ni Pacquiao, pwede naman siyang umastang parang pastor at mas swabe pa ang epek kaysa kay Pacquiao dahil sa unbelievable na sobra niyang pagkamahinahon lalo na sa ginamit niyang mababang boses at mga piling salitang binitiwan.

Nagpasalamat si Pacquiao sa kanyang mga team na banyaga at Pilipino na umaalalay sa kanya. Hindi niya binanggit ang nanay niya, ganoong binigyan siya nito ng rosaryo kaya nananalo daw siya noon sa mga laban niya, pero hindi na niya ipinakita nang maging born-again Christian siya. Ang nanay naman niya bandang huli ay nagkasya na lamang sa pagbato ng mga incantations o dasal sa kanyang mga kalaban upang matalo niya. Malamang nakahanda na naman ang nanay niya para sa darating na laban nila Mayweather…baka mas matinding incantation ang inihanda niya…huwag lang sana niyang samahan ng pagsirko-sirko at pagsayaw. By the way, nanay niya ang nasa likod ng pagsuot niya milyong-halagang outfit sa presscon. Sabi ng nanay niya…”deserve mo yan, anak”. Ganyan dapat ang nanay!

Si Mayweather naman, abut-abot ang pasalamat sa kanyang tatay na naghirap upang maging batikan siyang boksingero. Hindi niya nabanggit ang Diyos. Dahil sa ginawa ni Mayweather, sana ay hindi masumbatan ni Mrs. Dionesia Pacquiao ang kanyang anak na hindi nagbanggit sa kanya. Sa kabuuhan, talagang parang maamong tupa si Mayweather kaya marami ang natuwa sa kanyang pagbabago. Hindi kaya nag-alala lang ito dahil ang mga Holywood celebrities ay kay Pacquiao nakapusta? Kaya kapag nagsalita siya ng laban kay Pacquiao, siguradong “maaayos” siya!

May mga okasyong talagang nakakapagpabago ng tao, kahit panandalian lamang. Sa isang okasyon nga ay may isang taong akala ng marami ay mahina lang ang loob kaya walang kibo kahit nilalait na sa media, subalit biglang naging mabalasik sa pagbato ng mga paninisi sa isa pang tao. Naging kampanti yata dahil ang mga umatend sa okasyon ay inakala niyang puro niya kakampi – mga piling bisita. Ang mga okasyong may media ay itinuturing din na magandang venue upang makapagyabang, kaya ginagamit ang mga ito nitong tao at kanyang mga tagapagsalita upang maipagyabang ang mga ginawa daw niya, na sa totoo lang ay puro kasinungalingan. Kilala na itong tao sa pabago-bago niyang mga sinasabi, at sa pagsandal sa mga kaibigan na akala niya ay matatalino at magagaling. Subalit parang pinagsisihan niya ang ginawa niyang pagbitaw sa isa dahil hindi na niya ito binabanggit kapag siya ay nanduduro ng paninisi sa isa pang tao!…ibig sabihin kasi ng “bff” ay “best friend FOREVER”!