Did PNoy admit that he is a leftist?

For our special presentation on Straight from the Sky, we bring you a serious discussion on the need for a social transformation. Today, the country has suffered from political infighting gone out of control. Hatred, revenge and vindictiveness rules our time. There was a time when our politicians merely gloat at each other when they win the elections. How times have changed since Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III won the Presidency, where he used the immense powers of the Presidency to go after former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and anyone remotely linked to her.

This is why Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was hauled into an impeachment trial that has divided the nation. This week we will know whether CJ Corona will be acquitted or convicted. Whatever the verdict… I assure you that it will not change anything in this country. Our centralized system of governance has not worked in the favor of the entire archipelago. Development has always been focused in Metro Manila to the detriment of the rest of the nation, where the poorest places in the Philippines are those that are the farthest from the central powers of the government.

I don’t have to remind you that under the leadership of Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III Mindanao has suffered brownouts because he simply didn’t work hard to fix their power problems. Almost two years under the Aquino Regime, we in Cebu haven’t seen any infrastructure development that was conceptualized, designed and funded under PNoy.

I can remember that during the Marcos Years, Cebu was denied economic development simply because his principal political rival was Sen. Sergio “Serging” Osmeña, Jr. Call it politically understandable, but in the May 2010 elections, Pres. Aquino won in Cebu… so why are we denied what is rightfully ours especially that Cebu’s economy contribute largely to the national coffers.

So if you’re asking whether or not we are happy with our current system of governance… I’m sure that you’ll agree with me that what we need is a better system of government where there is less politics and more development. What we need is a social transformation and that is what we will be talking about tonight.

With us to discuss this very relevant topic are our good friends, Engr. Douglas Gacasan, Chairman of Task Force for Life & Family in the Visayas, Radio Commentator Bert Emphasis of the radio program “The Board Room” and Atty. Clarence Paul Oaminal, author of Philippine Political Law and former Undersecretary of the Dangerous Drugs Board. This promises to be a very interesting discussion, which you can watch on SkyCable’s channel 15 at 8:00pm with replays on MyTV channel 28 at 9:00pm and 7:00am.

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When we wrote about the manifesto dubbed “Unite to Defend Democracy and Build the Nation!” which was signed in Talisay last April 29, 2012, and published as a full-paged advertisement in The Philippine Star last Wednesday, one of the issues raised was the seizure of state power by the Communist Party of the Philippines. CJ Corona mentioned this during the impeachment trial… that political adviser Ronald Llamas has virtually “hostaged” PNoy because despite two ugly incidents involving him, the President still couldn’t get rid of this guy.

Instead of avoiding the issue the way he usually does, last Friday, PNoy attended Akbayan’s 5th Regular Congress at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and, since its founding chairman Ronald Llamas is PNoy’s political adviser, the President did not only show up before the leftist group, he made a huge speech, saying, “I and the members of Akbayan think alike.” He also said, “I don’t control the Akbayan and they don’t control me.”

If you ask me, PNoy just admitted in public that he is leftist. It is the very first time that a Philippine President made such a public admission. This kind of public statement worries me a lot because I know that the military is already sick and tired of running after leftists who are really members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Boy! Am I glad and proud that I didn’t vote for this President!

PNoy says that he and Akbayan stand against human rights violations. If this is true, how come the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Watch exactly a week ago came up with a report that said, “The administration of Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III has failed to take significant measures to prosecute members of the military, police and militias implicated in extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances.” We can guess that it is because the friends of Pres. Aquino are also huge human rights violators. When our soldiers are ambushed and killed by New People’s Army, we don’t hear cries of human rights violation from Malacañang and the Akbayan.

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