Initially, I was having second thoughts about attending the presidential forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Manila on Makati Avenue last Wednesday. Since I had a lunch appointment near the area, I decided reluctantly to wake up early just to avoid the morning traffic rush in Makati City.
It was the first time for President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to appear before the FOCAP presidential forum since he took office at Malacañang Palace in June last year. To me, however, it was sort of a reunion with my former colleagues in the Palace coverage with the likes of FOCAP board member Manny Mogato, who is now connected with Reuters.
The Chief Executive apparently arrived on time but had to linger long at the reception area as some of the 20 or so tables at the FOCAP affair were still vacant. It was a P1,500-per-head morning snack and lunch fare. P-Noy was accompanied by three members of the Palace communications team led by Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma, Ricky Carandang, and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, and presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita “Ding” Deles.
At least two tables were occupied by the top brass of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) led by chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Oban. Aside from FOCAP-accredited foreign and local journalists, there were also several members of the diplomatic community present led by Korean Ambassador Hye-min Lee.
Top public relations practitioners like Ramon Santiago, vice president for corporate affairs of San Miguel Corp.; Rosan Cruz, senior assistant vice president of the Lopez Group of Companies; and Alfonso “Butch” Raquel, GMA-7 corporate communications consultant, came also to watch the presidential forum.
As soon as P-Noy came into the Mandarin ballroom, the program started right away with his speech. P-Noy’s brief speech at the FOCAP was over in just seven minutes, as timed by Mogato. Always keen and sharp, Mogato also noted that the presidential seal on the podium had seemingly shrunk in size.
While bantering in our table about the reduced size of the presidential seal, the question-and-answer quickly followed P-Noy’s speech. FOCAP’s grand old man, Gabby Tabuñar, moderated the Q&A. The veteran journalist also used to moderate the FOCAP forum during the term of P-Noy’s late mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
Although our table was near the presidential table, we had difficulty listening to what P-Noy was saying because the microphone was a bit far from him. We had to motion to Carandang, who was seated beside the Chief Executive at the presidential table, to adjust the placement of the microphone.
As it turned out, our difficulty to catch up with the presidential talk was also largely due to how fast P-Noy spoke. Someone remarked, the son talks like the father, whether in Tagalog or English, on rapid-fire fashion. Of course, this refers to slain Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., the namesake father of P-Noy.
If there was any particular hot issue that was persistently pursued during the one-and-a-half-hour Q&A was surprisingly not even of importance to the Filipino public. It was about the bone remains supposedly of Japanese soldiers who died in the Philippines during World War II that have been recovered, although some of them turned out to be belonging to Filipinos.
At first, I could not make heads or tails of the matter but apparently it was one of the key issues raised before P-Noy during his meetings with top Japanese government officials during his state visit to Tokyo last Sept. 25 to 28. Filipino journalists working here for Japanese media passionately followed up the matter with P-Noy who was twice pressed to give more details on the issue.
At first, P-Noy was apparently trying to answer in general terms by citing initial reports on “inconclusive” results of the ongoing investigation into this case. The President disclosed he is still awaiting the official transmission of the report from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) if only to satisfy the queries of the Japanese media.
In the same forum with local and foreign media, P-Noy again took the occasion to lament that he has to grin and bear the “nitpicking” and faultfinding he gets on each and every issue he has to deal with in office. However, it will not be for long, P-Noy told the FOCAP forum, as he steps down from office in June 2016.
P-Noy complained anew about critics and commentators in media who do not share what he thinks are the country’s more important concerns but are more preoccupied with “trivial” pursuits against his administration.
The President said he finds solace and comfort on what he sees and hears from the ordinary Filipinos. He mentioned in particular an incident last Tuesday while his convoy was on its way to a speaking engagement at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Roxas Boulevard.
“I had a chance encounter with a family that is not well-off and they seem to be appreciative of the things we were doing. That is enough for me,” the President said. “When I get a reception like that, then the four years and eight months remaining do not seem to be that long,” P-Noy quipped in obvious reference to his term of office.
Our 50-year-old bachelor President, as expected, was once again asked about the affairs of his heart, specifically what he is looking in an ideal wife. “That is not my priority at this point in time,” P-Noy tartly replied.
Anyway, most of the questions asked during the forum more or less already came out in various news items, from P-Noy’s decision against state burial honors for the late President Ferdinand Marcos to the filing of graft charges against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo possibly by next month.
Incidentally, the Marcos burial and graft charges against Mrs. Arroyo were mentioned in one question on how P-Noy intends to put a closure to these two long-standing political issues that he has inherited in office. So, in short, there will be no closure to these two major political issues, as P-Noy put it, “not under my watch” at the Palace.