Off to a bad start FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 06/14/2010

Off to a bad start

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 06/14/2010 Noynoy Aquino, on the campaign stump, virtually promised the Filipino a corrupt-free government and the elimination of poverty, with his spiel of “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” Catchy spiel, but much too impossible, and therefore dangerous to his presidency if Noynoy can’t live up to his promises. He will find out soon enough that eradicating corruption (which is pretty impossible) does not necessarily translate to the elimination of poverty. Take the so-called least corrupt countries, or even Hong Kong, which always stands out as a top notch place on the list of the least corrupt, as the surveys say. Yet it cannot be denied that there are still a great many Hong Kong Chinese people who still live in squalor. The truth is, there is little, if at all, any connection between corruption and poverty. In much the same way, China’s economic growth is stupendous, yet a lot of the Chinese in mainland China, live in poverty. But whether he and his propagandists admit it, the fact is that Noynoy and his administration will be judged on this campaign pledge, more than any other campaign pledges made by previous presidents. The reason is pretty clear. He, together with his yellow propagandists came up with promise, at a time when Filipinos were already up to their necks in disgust with the corruption, not to mention lying, stealing and cheating, that has marked Gloria Arroyo’s regime. As Noynoy peddled hope, and generated much expectations from the Filipinos—especially those who had voted for him, which is hardly a majority, he is expected to deliver on his campaign promises, especially as he and his Liberals have painted themselves as the “good” against the evil — which was generally taken to mean everybody and anybody that was not with them, or for them.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100614com2.html

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