Estrada speech writer speaks up

Their job is to put words in President Estrada's mouth. But Malacañang speech writers sometimes also fail to come up with the right words to match what the President wants to say.

A presidential speech writer said yesterday he could not blame the media for highlighting the word "crisis" in the President's speech during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Manila Hotel last Wednesday.

In his speech, the President noted that he "need not dispute nor deny the displeasure of many regarding the crisis that grips the country at present."

The line hit the headlines the next day, with the President appearing to have candidly admitted that the country is in crisis.

The Malacañang speech writer said that they never foresaw the media interpreting the line in such a manner.

"I don't know who prepared it (the speech) but when I went over it, I did not see that the media could interpret it that way because the President's theme for the occasion was his call for national unity in times of crisis," said the speech writer who asked not to be named.

The speech writer lamented, however, Sen. Juan Flavier's criticism that they should be the ones to blame for writing something that the President did not intend to say.

"I cannot blame him (Flavier) if he wants to grandstand on this," the writer said with sarcasm. "That's his privilege."

He admitted, though, that there was truth in Flavier's statement that the President has to strengthen the Palace's speech-writing group to prevent lines in his speeches from being taken out of context by the media.

"It was a good thing he highlighted what we have been telling the President before this thing happened," he said.

The writer noted that there are only three to four "principal" speechwriters in Malacañang who go over drafts of the President's speeches.

This number, he said, pales to that of former President Ramos who had at least 20 "highly competent and highly paid" writers who are backed by a staff which supplies them with needed data for the speeches they write.

"The problem of our group is it is very small and we have so many deadlines to beat. We even have to do speeches for events when the President just sends his proxy to read the speech for him," the speechwriter said.

"But the group is composed of competent people," he added. "The only problem is we have so many deadlines. We need extra hands."

Those who review the President's speeches at present are Danilo Reyes, a public administration expert; Jun Cruz, a veteran presidential speechwriter, and Conrado Lantion of the Presidential Management Staff.

Journalist Teodoro Locsin Jr. was formerly a part of the group, the speechwriter said.

Press Secretary Rodolfo Reyes also writes drafts of speeches, too, according to the speechwriter, especially if the occasion involves the media.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon, on the other hand, handles the drafts of foreign policy speeches while Finance Secretary Jose Pardo is in charge of speeches on business and economic matters, he revealed.

The speech writer said the task of coming up with the President's speeches is tedious. "We have to be careful especially when it involves policy matters," he said.

He added that the President is also meticulous on the "style" of his speeches. "The President wants most of his speeches in Filipino and he wants us to capture his style," he said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Ernesto Herrera (LAMP, Bohol) advised the President to read his speeches "very carefully" before delivering them. He said Mr. Estrada should not complain about having been taken out of context because he clearly stated that the country was in crisis in his speech.

"The press has been occasionally hysterical and sensationalistic. But in this case, nobody was quoted out of context," Herrera said. "I suggest that the President read his speeches very carefully before he delivers them." -- With Liberty Dones