Tacloban the measure of Noynoy's legacy

 When Noynoy refused to go to Tacloban on the eve of Yolanda's first anniversary, he succeeded in finally showing his true color, and it is yellow, as in the yellow of cowardice. And for all his name-dropping of the people being his bosses, he is in reality deathly scared to face them on the day of reckoning, when the truth mattered and lip service no longer counted.

It is true that no warm welcome awaited Noynoy in Tacloban, for reasons both stupid and justified. The stupid reason is that Noynoy is an Aquino and not a Romualdez, a fact that no less than Mar Roxas, Noynoy's presumptive successor, painfully pointed out to Taclobanons at a time when all they needed was help and not a lecture on genealogy or politics.

As to the justifiable reason why no warm welcome awaited Noynoy in Tacloban, it is because by his own actions he has not really shown he cared much for the plight of Taclobanons. The first time he went there, all he gave out were bottles of water. To this day, more than a year after Tacloban nearly got wiped off the face of the earth, a great many have not been able to move on with their lives because of the lack of assistance from government.

Even businessmen, who normally do not protest in public, have not minced words in their disgust over government's failure to come to their aid. Every Tacloban businessman interviewed by the pro-Aquino ABS-CBN did not have a nice word to say about Noynoy. If Tacloban has painstakingly struggled back to its feet, it is largely because of the Taclobanons own mighty effort to help themselves, and the massive and sustained international response that continues even to this day.

You can literally be moved to tears on seeing how foreign volunteers have stuck it out with the Taclobanons, never abandoning them for their own government, which as everyone there knows, is simply not there. My wife, who has just been in Tacloban, said even the contingent of South Korean soldiers who came in during the first weeks after the storm, is still there, doing their bit for the community whose own leader wants no part of their sad story.

If Noynoy is truly worth his presidency, he should have gone to Tacloban for the Yolanda anniversary. I have no beef against him going to Guiuan, Eastern Samar. In fact, it is good that he did. But there should have been no reason for him to miss going to Tacloban. Tacloban is the face of Yolanda. And he is the face of government.

I can understand that the prospect of facing a hostile crowd can be scary. It might even pose a legitimate security concern. But he is the president. He cannot be scared of his own people. Even more so if he keeps on calling them his bosses. Or is his fondness to call them as such just a devious means to promote his political interests at their fragile credulity's expense.

His fears of negative consequences aside, Noynoy actually stood to gain much from a visit to Tacloban. He could have used it as an opportunity to reconnect with the people he abandoned. He could have shown his sincerity, and his humility, as a leader by facing the people who, having felt they have been wronged, are eager to be reassured.

As they say, hope springs eternal, even in the most challenging of times and the most difficult of circumstances. Even if the people of Tacloban felt they have been neglected, there is always something in coming face to face with your president that buoys up the spirit so that even if they may not like Noynoy personally, they can still take heart in the fact that the awesome powers of the office he represents will have something for them this time.

Alas, Noynoy was never meant to be president and therefore could never act presidential. For Noynoy, it is just like showbiz. He loves the job only when the audience are his fans. A man of more presidential perspective would have relished the chance to come face to face with the inescapable realities of his office. If Noynoy had the mindset of a president, he would have realized that he is president of Taclobanons too, regardless of whether they like him or not.

The problem with Noynoy is that he reduced the Tacloban visit into a polticial question instead of dealing with it as a humanitarian concern that necessitated the attention of the president. As the face of Yolanda, Noynoy cannot simply sweep Tacloban under the rug and pretend it does not exist. With all due respect to the people of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Noynoy can visit them a thousand times, but he will still be measured by what he did, or did not do, in Tacloban.

Skipping Tacloban will prove very costly to Noynoy. He stands to further erode the moral authority he has jealously but vainly promoted all throughout his soon-to-end administration. His failure to face the Taclobanons as both their president and as a real man makes for yet another failure in a different front of his presidency.

Noynoy has already betrayed those who fell for his "matuwid na daan" sloganeering. And, as painful as it may be for those who were betrayed, I am sure they will eventually find it in their hearts to forgive him, owing to the political nature of the offense, as well as their own naivete. But abandoning the face of tragedy will hound his presidency long after he has departed from it. Tacloban will forever be the measure of Noynoy's legacy.

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