In the light of the profound implications of that simple statement, I must assume that the masses in Tondo (and the other “D” and “E” income class communities as well) who chose the elitista Noynoy Aquino over the masa Manny Villar for their president knew what they were doing and calculated that it was in their best interests to do so. I can, of course, speculate on the logic of their voting decision, but I cannot — not being able to claim that I know what “living in Tondo” really means — reasonably dispute it.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that a predominantly patronage-based political system caused the masses to vote for whomever their patrons designated, but this seems a bit too simplistic an explanation these days. Undoubtedly, that may still be true in certain parts of the country — the more backward, more isolated parts — but it is far more likely that voters today choose their candidates based on a more complex blend of the economic inducements offered by political factotums of the elite class and the pervasive influences of an ubiquitous mass media and unlimited SMS texting.

What is intriguing about the masa vote in this presidential election is that the masses opted overwhelmingly for a member of the burgis elite when a member of their own class was a potentially winning alternative. If we can set aside petty economic inducements (assuming that those offered by both sides were effectively a wash), this essentially implies that the masses believe that their interests will be better promoted by someone who knows absolutely nothing about “living in Tondo” rather than by someone who was born there and who successfully worked his way out of the squalor. That choice is particularly significant considering that the problems of poverty and the vast divide between rich and poor in this country must obviously be the first concerns of the disadvantaged masses.

Admittedly, it is bewildering to me that the masses are apparently convinced that the economic inequality issue will be actually addressed by a landholding hacendero whose every previous public action has been faithful to and consistent with his class origins. It is hard to understand that those for whom true economic reform must be their most fervent hope would pin such hopes on a figure who not only is a member of the “establishment” but also clearly defends it on such crucial issues as land reform.

In trying to understand that intriguing choice, I speculated last week that the Filipino public remains attached to a (common) human tendency to attribute extraordinary virtues to a celebrity or famous person, even in the face of available evidence to the contrary. Calling this tendency the “aesthetic of the famous,” I branded it as responsible for “irrational” choices.

Moving beyond that, however, it was obvious to observers how prominent members of the establishment banded together to prevent a masa interloper from possibly crashing the elite circles of power to threaten their choke hold on government. Much as it will be denied, they and their well-paid factotums clearly pulled out all the stops and entered into all sorts of alliances to ensure the success of that effort.

One such alliance allowed former president Joseph Estrada — notwithstanding a criminal conviction for plunder, a constitutional ban on running for re-election, and a signed commitment that he could not run again for public office — to remain in the presidential derby and thereby split the masa vote. Amazingly, even members of the so-called educated class never thought to question why President Arroyo never even bothered to invoke Mr. Estrada’s acceptance of a will-not-run-again condition of his presidential pardon and an Arroyo-controlled Supreme Court would go along with something that clearly benefited Mr. Aquino. Another such alliance brought in a huge part of the funds used by Mr. Aquino in the second half of his then well-funded campaign.

Those campaign alliances and those being entered into now with various members of the Senate and the House are clear indicators — to those not wearing blinders — that societal reform will not be forthcoming in this country. The establishment — the status quo — has won. It will, sad to say, be just business as usual.

Going back to the masa vote, one has to concede that Mr. Aquino’s communications group was better organized and far more effective at selling its image of Mr. Aquino as a saint who would banish corruption in a stroke than was Mr. Villar’s group at selling its image of Mr. Villar as a capable manager whose considerable achievements indicated that he could actually solve a long-standing poverty problem. In its “negative” campaign, it must also be conceded that Mr. Aquino’s group succeeded spectacularly at spinning facts and thus painting their opponent as “evil” and themselves as “good” in a “good versus evil” drama. On the other hand, it was patently obvious that Mr. Villar’s group lacked the ability to effectively communicate the message that Mr. Aquino was incompetent, incapable, and unfit for the position of president.

Of course, one cannot avoid mentioning the communications advantage Mr. Aquino enjoyed because the biggest mass media outfits in the country — principally the ABS-CBN group and the Daily Inquirer and the Philippine Star — wielded an obvious editorial bias in favor of Mr. Aquino. Undoubtedly, this bias did in fact spell a telling difference in molding the public’s perceptions of the candidates.
Set up to view Mr. Aquino as the champion of good against the forces of evil, the masses must now hold Mr. Aquino to the standard he and his elite drum-beaters have themselves set. In that light, the masses will have to judge him not only for his self-proclaimed “virtue” but also for his ability to perform miracles. Even granting (but not conceding) he is without sin, can he indeed turn water into wine or multiply five loaves and two fishes into food for the multitudes? If he cannot, how (I wonder) will the disappointed masa react?

Strategic Perspective — by René B. Azurin

It is not as if it is being said for the first time. I repeat what others have said that failure of election will not come from the PCOS but from two other machines – FV (Filipino voter) and FC (Filipino candidates).

The machines are so out of date, they cannot function properly for the selection of leaders for our country. The FV is out of sync and performs as if it has nothing to do with why he is voting a particular FC. The FC operates within this flaw and produces results with nothing to do with FV.

That in brief is the problem we face when the results are known after May 10. When disaster strikes and the country malfunctions (with candidates declaring beforehand that they will not accept defeat) let us put the blame on those who refused to accept that the machines are not and cannot work unless these are fixed.

* * *

Among those I turned to in my quest for information that would help voters choose a qualified candidate to be our president is another family friend of both the Aquinos and the Agulars. They formed a tightly knit Filipino community in Boston. Let us just call him Jim because, he, too like so many others who have something to say about Noynoy as unfit to be president of the Philippines does not want to expose himself.

* * *

Dear Ms. Pedrosa

Just when I think of giving up on RP…because it doesn’t want to be helped…I meet someone of your high stature—who is into saving RP (from dud leaders?). I am naturally encouraged again. To go into your inquiry, I am sorry to tell you that I do not have any medical information about Noynoy.

Seriously, I don’t hope to go into that route. I have always relied on my own personal observation and inference in evaluating a person, and that is how I form my idea of someone who should not even think of being president.

I’m sorry to sound preachy, but I think it is time for us Filipinos to discern that way about candidates who simply “like” public positions, but which are out of their aptitude.

The Agulars and I stayed together everyday of my trip there leading to the Upsilon reunion at the Manila Polo Club. Steve and I belong to that Batch. And to his widow and son’s family, it was a sentimental reunion with “Steve’s brods.”

To this day, we are each other’s extended families, as when we both lived in Massachusetts.

Personally, I think the Agulars, (especially the late Dr. S. Agular), are apolitical. But they are very loyal to family friends. The Aquinos are one.

In politics, I am more loyal to RP ( the Republic of the Philippines. That’s why Gordon is my candidate. I wish to read more of your regular columns. I think we have many sensible things in common about what is good for RP.

This letter was followed by another.

Thank you for this attention…tho’ undeserved… but I would rather not be another ‘witness to corroborate’ the imperfections of Noynoy. I believe we have enough evidence in the open to convince a nation that Noynoy should best be left to himself…not running for president…and certainly not be used—not by his sisters, not by his relatives, and not fussed about by the media.

Unfortunately, the RP media abetted this yet another political aberration. It’s our culture and our habit to promote the bizarre and the incompetent, e.g. Erap, Lapid, Revilla, etc.

We prefer to be entertained, it seems that way. And this might sell newspapers, but it carries no responsibility.

I could not believe, for instance, the headlines that came out from both The Philippine Inquirer and the Philippine Star newspapers. They actually hailed the dramatic internal struggle of Noynoy to make a decision for the ‘big plum.’ Is there a movie about this heir cashing in on a huge political inheritance?

That’s right…the media played a big part in making a Noynoy attractive to the millions of impressionable voters. Of course, it’s not lost in me that we (you & I?) might be that child yelling to the crowd that the king is shriveled in the head, and has no clothes.

But we have to look back some 30 years ago. How much can we rely on Pinoy “kantiyaw” humor…things said in anecdotal bantering of a small party of friends?

In MA then, I remember asking why…”itong anak ni Ninoy ang layo kung sumagot.” (not in the presence of Ninoy, of course.)

And the answer I got was: …”kasi may kulang.” …which was consistent with what I thought was a missing bolt in his head. (never occurred to me that he would run for president, let alone his mother, Cory!…years after. Cory, I think, was a disaster for RP.)

Thirty years since…I repeated the incident, and the answer I got was: “ikaw naman…! ‘di naman gano’n ang ibig sabihin ng “kulang”.

And what did it mean? The explanation was that…he was “kulang sa pansin ng tatay”….because all the attention was given to the (spoiled) youngest, Kris. And this, supposedly, had a big impact on the “kid.”

I see…but not quite. I may get into EXPLANATIONS, but still this is not the DISCUSSION I want to get into with my friends. So I left this matter to rest. Besides, it is a 30 year-old personal observation of a “kid”. Times have changed. I’m often chided. Even some people are able to get out of cancer, so I’m reminded.

Today, I am further reassured, “Have you heard Noynoy speak lately? He KNOWS how to speak in public now.”

And is this why ‘that kid’ is urged to run for president?!?

* * *

These letters reinforce the opinion that the validity of a psychiatric report on a person’s ability to lead does not rest on whether the report was signed. Indeed the report can be true even without a signature.

What is necessary is that what it reports can be verified through other means. It is not the signature that makes the report. Experts arrive at their conclusions by observation, asking questions and then evaluating their observations through the prism of knowledge through textbooks and experience. Ordinary people can do the same without having formal expertise.

Reports do not become bogus for a lack of signature. The details of the report have been reported widely and interpreted by its readers according to what they hear, what they see, and make their own profile of the person concerned.

May 8, 2010 (Saturday) Carmen N. Pedrosa

By the way, Hacienda Luisita’s 6,443 hectares is worth potentially, P190 billion—P3,000 per square meter multiplied by 64.43 million square meters. The P3,000 per sqm is usually the price of an idle farm land in provinces immediately north and south of Manila, once a highway or a major development is injected into it.

I drove through Hacienda Luisita yesterday morning entering the Luisita gate of the SCTEX and I saw on both sides of the first-class expressway miles and miles of green fertile land. Noynoy and his sisters own 16.6 percent of the hacienda. Multiply 16.6 percent by P190 billion and you get P31.5 billion.

Noynoy has had a good education. The Jesuits take care of their alumni well. Look at what they did to Manny Pangilinan. MVP was easily let off the hook after plagiarizing his commencement day speech, which was also an acceptance speech for his Ateneo honorary doctorate degree.

Noynoy has had a good barkada. Ateneo has probably the best old-boy network a student can cultivate from his alma mater.

Noynoy has had plenty of girl friends. A girl was killed with him in the middle of a coup during his mother’s presidency.

He has had plenty of gadgets and toys. Guns (at least nine licensed with his name). Noynoy has not had a stable job, except for brief stints as a sales manager for Nike shoes, shorts and shirts, a manager of the family-owned Hacienda Luisita, and the co-owner of a security agency that got sweetheart contracts from the government.

Noynoy has never run a household because he has none. He is single. There are 16 million households in the Philippines.

Noynoy has been member of the Philippine Congress—9 years as congressman and 3 years as senator. During those 12 years, he didn’t produce a single law that carries his name. Senator Lito Lapid, who is supposedly stupid and cannot manage a good English sentence, produced a law. Senator Antonio Trillanes, who is in jail and cannot attend Senate sessions, produced two laws that carry his name.

On May 10, if you believe surveys, Noynoy will be elected president of the Philippines, running away with 38 percent of the vote with at least 15 million votes—six million more votes than either Joseph Estrada or Manny Villar could garner.

Noynoy will be CEO of this country of 95 million people, CEO of the government, and CEO of 16 million households. Now, that’s luck.

In a way, the Cojuangco and Aquino families are one of the luckiest political families on earth. In 1983, Ninoy Aquino died, by assassination. In 1985, widow Cory Aquino, a plain housewife, ran for president.

Doy Laurel had to give up his presidential ambitions and downgraded himself to vice president. She promised to make Doy prime minister. Cory won. She swore in Doy as prime minister at 9 in the morning of February 25, 1986. By noon, Doy lost his job as pm. The government was changed from parliamentary to presidential.

In August 2009, Cory Aquino died, of cancer. Noynoy Aquino decided to run for president. Mar Roxas had to give up his presidential ambitions and downgraded himself to vice president. If Noynoy wins, I hope he gives Mar some useful, meaningful job, in addition to being a spare tire.

How come, when somebody dies in the Cojuangco-Aquino family, someone must ran for president, someone must downgrade to vice president, and an Aquino must win the presidency?

Isn’t one presidency enough? Look at what happened with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo—the second Macapagal president. The first and second Macapagal presidents were elected 42 years apart.

Isn’t the fact that we must again elect, after nearly a quarter century, another Aquino for president proof that the first Aquino presidency was a failure?

Does the nation really owe the family that much? How come Filipinos have so much faith in the Aquinos? Isn’t Hacienda Luisita enough reward for their years in politics?

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/16624-does-the-nation-owe-the-aquinos

On her provocative talk show on DZRH radio yesterday, host Dr. Cora Claudio posed the question of how voters should make their choices as to whom to vote for. My answer was that choices should be made on the basis of two factors: i) a candidate’s public record of achievement, and ii) the sources of funding being used by a candidate in his campaign. For me, those are the more solid bases we voters have for discerning what candidates would do and achieve once elected. Campaign rhetoric is worthless for this purpose.

As perennial victims of empty political promises, we should all be acutely aware of how politicians will say anything while running for office and how they will then develop Alzheimer’s about what they promised once voted into office. I said on Dr. Claudio’s program therefore that we should ignore what candidates say during the campaign and, instead, look at what they have actually done or achieved in their lives prior to that period. A particular record of accomplishment is a far better indicator of a candidate’s performance in office than anything he actually says while campaigning for votes. It is a reasonable basis for us voters to judge if he will do what he says he will do. More importantly, it is a reasonable basis for us voters to judge if the candidate can do what he says he will do. “Can” addresses capability; “will” speaks only of intention.

In addressing capability, a candidate’s sources of campaign funding indicate, at the minimum, his constraints and, at the maximum, his agenda. Major funders of political campaigns are not known to be altruistic individuals who will part with sizable portions of their fortunes simply to satisfy an unrelated third party’s political ambitions or to achieve a public good. These funding sources naturally expect private gain from their financial contributions and invariably demand that their financed candidate either protect their economic fiefdoms from competition or use government power to bestow on them lucrative rackets. “Rackets” do not mean just jueteng, drugs, and smuggling, although operators of such rackets are now the biggest contributors to political campaigns. Rackets also include the corralling by favored cronies of overpriced importations of coal, rice, and other major commodities, the massively padded construction of selected public infrastructure, and assorted “sweetheart” government deals.

Being a teacher of management and a former practicing manager (although, admittedly, not a very good one), I am more aware than most of how effective or ineffective management spells the difference between what is achieved and what is not achieved by an organization. I am also more aware than most that management skills are acquired skills (not inherited ones) and require management experience to actually develop.

This is why — for me — presidential candidate Aquino is not a “reasoned” choice but a “wishful thinking” choice. In the private sector, selling Nike shoes or handling security at his family’s hacienda or lending his name to a security agency set up to obtain government service contracts does not constitute management experience of any consequence. In Mr. Aquino’s 12 years in Congress, filing a tiny handful of bills and not being able to get any of them passed indicates laziness, ineffectiveness, disinterest, or all of the above. It is pure wishful thinking — of the sort indulged in by schoolgirls who imagine that a “Prince” on a white steed is not in fact a self-absorbed and vacuous pomposity — to even consider that such an underachieving individual is going to be the “savior” who can rescue this country from bad governance and raise all of us peasants up out of our economic sinkholes.

In contrast, presidential candidate Manny Villar has exhibited undeniable achievement in both business and politics. In business, he has built a property empire starting from two used gravel-and-sand trucks. That shows industry, determination, perseverance, and management expertise. The scale of his achievement is not readily appreciated by those who do not understand what it means when global investors actually gobble up shares in a Philippine company in a public stock offering done in New York. In his stint in Congress, Mr. Villar has filed well over 700 bills and has gotten 54 of them passed, including such significant ones as the “Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Act,” the “Overseas Absentee Voting Act,” the “Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act,” “An Act Granting Additional Benefits and Privileges to Senior Citizens,” and the “Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act.”

My bias is for demonstrated achievement because intentions (no matter how noble) are — until they are realized — merely scratches on paper or noises in the wind. To achieve a group objective — and governance is a group activity — requires the ability to manage. Given multiple objectives and the variety of competing interests, the task of managing government is particularly difficult. Translating good intentions into concrete achievements is not something reasonably to be expected from someone inexperienced, lazy, uninterested, or weak.

In this light, Mr. Aquino’s campaign slogan of “Kung walang korap, walang mahirap” is — without commenting on the logic of the slogan itself — essentially meaningless if one is not convinced that Mr. Aquino has the abilities to achieve either the elimination of corruption or the elimination of poverty. It’s a squeak in the wind.

The government of former President Cory Aquino, Mr. Aquino’s mother, offers the perfect illustration of what I mean. Lacking management expertise, Mrs. Aquino’s (presumed) good intentions never had a chance of being realized. In fact, her government was certifiably a mess because she simply did not have the skills to control what was called Kamag-Anak Inc. and the other competing interests in her own coalition. She was also incapable of installing a management system that would enable her to determine that her programs (assuming she had them) were being implemented and that her subordinate managers were progressing toward congruent goals.

I don’t bother to respond to hate mail from rabid Aquino supporters because I find it useless to engage in a discussion with individuals whose holier-than-thou attitudes only manifest closed minds. But to those who appear to be open to reason even as they might question my preference for presidential candidate Manny Villar, I say basically that our respective decisions proceed from different sets of assumptions (as well as different information sets).

We all make basic assumptions when we cast our vote. Those for Mr. Aquino assume that he will — despite his glaring lack of achievement and a public record distinguished only by his congressional defense of the Hacienda Luisita massacre and his vote (supporting Gloria Arroyo) against the playing of the “Hello Garci” tapes — be a good leader. Those for Mr. Villar, like me, assume that — having already raised some P23 billion from the sale of his company’s stock in New York — Mr. Villar is after a psychic return and not a monetary return on the maybe P2 billion he is spending on this campaign and that he will, if he wins, apply his demonstrated managerial abilities and first-hand understanding of the problems of the poor to reform this country and actually lift it out of the economic cellar.
Most voters, I am certain, want their vote to lead to a better future for this country. As best they can, these voters should apply reason to the making of their choice. To vote on the basis of wishful thinking would be irresponsible.

- Rene Azurin
Business World

Former Napocor president Guido Delgado has presented to the public a psychiatric evaluation of Mr. Aquino by former Ateneo psychology department head Fr. Jaime Bulatao in 1979 that essentially said that Mr. Aquino suffered from “episodes of depression and melancholia” and a “deeply rooted desire for revenge.” The treatment recommended in the report was regular psychotherapy and medication with Tofranil three times a day. According to a psychologist I spoke to, Tofranil is a drug used to treat depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. I have examined the document presented by Mr. Delgado and it is an original document. The signature on it looks to me authentic when compared to one on a document signed by Fr. Bulatao from that period.

I do not put much stock in denials coming from Fr. Bulatao or Ateneo or, for that matter, from Fr. Caluag (the signatory of an earlier released psychological report). Such denials are de kahon and standard and to be expected because not only embarrassment but also criminal liability attaches to those who release a patient’s privileged medical records or who allow such confidential documents to escape their possession through carelessness. Such denials do not, in themselves, establish that the documents that the public is suddenly seeing now are not genuine. Besides, one ought to remember that Jesuits have long been desirous of putting in an Atenean as president and that Fr. Caluag is actively working for the Aquino candidacy.

What I would like to see now is a handwriting expert authenticate the signature of Fr. Bulatao on the presented document as compared to his signature in the 1970s (not his signature over 30 years later when he is 87 years old and possibly no longer in any position to understand what any document put in front of him to sign is all about). In the case of the Caluag psychological report, Fr. Caluag himself admitted on TV that the signature is his and claims only that it was cut-and-pasted onto the report. I would really love to see the original emerge so that we can all check out this cut-and-paste claim.

While waiting for such developments, the Filipino public should hope that more corroborating sources — like former classmates, teachers, and friends of Mr. Aquino — would come out of the woodwork.

Already, though, some corroboration exists. In her column of April 24th, Philippine Star columnist Carmen Pedrosa quotes what she calls a trusted source who was a friend of the Aquino family and who was personally aware of how Ninoy Aquino (Noynoy’s father) himself sought psychiatric help for his son when they were living in Boston from 1980 to 1983. She also quotes household help who report that Noynoy Aquino regularly takes the drugs Seroquel (used to treat schizophrenia) and Abilify (used to treat autism-related irritability).

My own sources confirm details in the account of “Tomcat” (who describes himself as a former classmate of Noynoy), such as Noynoy’s “sudden mood swings,” his being called “Cooper” by his classmates (said to be a reference to the Cupertino School where Ateneo students taught catechism to retarded children), and his being very friendly with Fr. Caluag. At the moment, I am still on the trail of a source who might be able to confirm Tomcat’s detail-filled account of him and Noynoy often encountering each other in visits to psychiatrist Dr. Manuel Escudero’s high-rise on Roxas Boulevard.

I am also still trying to follow a lead on the “Concerned Citizen” who first leaked the psychiatric evaluation (supposedly) done by Fr. Caluag in 1996. It will be recalled that this report diagnosed Mr. Aquino as “suffering from Major Depressive Disorder” and recommended “continuing regular psychotherapy sessions, including CBT [cognitive behavior therapy, a treatment approach for mental disorders like clinical depression].” The “Concerned Citizen” said in a follow-up note posted on the Internet that “Fr. Caluag sometimes held office in the Psych Department before he was appointed High School Principal.” He also discloses that Fr. Caluag was “forced to leave” the Jesuit Order some years later.

Since Fr. Caluag denied that he could have made the report because he had no psychological training whatsoever, I started checking and found that someone who may be an Ateneo employee or former employee had already posted on the Internet an Ateneo University document that indicates that Fr. Caluag studied psychology as his minor concentration in college. I also learned from certain Ateneo insiders that it was typical for anyone about to occupy an important position dealing with kids (like high school principal) to undergo some sort of training in psychology. Accordingly, my suspicion would be that Mr. Aquino would have personally sought out his good friend Fr. Caluag if indeed he needed someone to talk to regarding his (Aquino’s) depression over a breakup with a stewardess girl friend in 1996 (when he was already out of school). If that is what happened, the mistake (?) could have been that Fr. Caluag wrote a report on it for the files of the Jesuits (who are historically rumored to love collecting and wielding information about potential power holders).

Anyway, the old adage, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” should apply here. The point we voters must not discount is that there are assertions that raise serious questions about Mr. Aquino’s mental and emotional fitness to be leader of this nation. The Filipino public deserves to be satisfied on the very crucial issue of the qualifications of candidates who present themselves to the electorate as presidential material. It is simply not acceptable that a candidate seeking the highest office in the land invokes some right to privacy when even ordinary job seekers are required to present proof of their mental and emotional suitability for a job applied for. The public has a (superior) right to know the mental and psychological state of anyone to whom we propose to give considerable power over us and over our armed forces and over this nation. If Mr. Aquino indeed sought psychological help in the past, he must not hide behind some privacy claim and must willingly offer those records for public scrutiny if he wants us to entrust him with the fate of this country and this people.

Just prior to the release of the Bulatao document, a source within the pro-Aquino camp whispered that the marching orders in the inner circles were to keep the lid on for just x more days and they would be “home free.” They were doing a countdown, said this source, “on how much longer the lid had to be kept on”: 16 more days, 15 more days, 14 more days…. I wonder, can they actually hold the lid down until we vote for a candidate who may not be qualified and whom some people intend to impeach shortly after he is elected? Will all the collected documents on Mr. Aquino’s mental health come out then?

Thursday, April 29, 2010 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Strategic Perspective — by René B. Azurin

Business World

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=10063

I did not want to write about Noynoy’s mental sickness. In a political campaign season, it looked like black propaganda from rival politicians.

That was before I received information I could trust that the allegations about Noynoy’s mental illness were true. My source is apolitical but she was moved by her responsibility to her country. She decided to do her part to stop the prevarication of others who also knew. The stories about Noynoy’s mental illness are not ‘concoctions’ she said. These should not be dismissed. It should be proved.

We must look at the issue closely and not be satisfied with mere gossip but seek to establish the facts.

My source has no reason to invent a story. She is a private person who received information she feels must be told. She is connecting a story many years ago when Noynoy was a young boy in Boston, not a presidential candidate but as the well-loved only son of a father frustrated that he will not be able to carry on with his legacy.

Were Ninoy alive today, he would have been shocked at the cruelty of those who would use his son for their personal ambitions. He would have been angered by the insensitivity of those who would stop at nothing to push Filipinos, herd them into a crying mob and then set up his sick son as a presidential candidate.

* * *

This is her story:

Ninoy was worried about his son and his future because he loved him. He expressed frustration that he could not rely on his son to take up his legacy but that was not his main concern. He was more worried about his happiness as a person. That is what led him to seek help from his doctor friend.

My source said that when she read about Tomcat’s (a classmate in Ateneo) letter and other stories about Noynoy’s mental problem her mind clicked and related it to Boston days. “Ay totoo pala yung sinabi sa akin many years ago.” Both the Aquinos and the doctor’s family were living in Boston. (Ninoy and his family lived in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston in self-exile from 1980 until his assassination in 1983.)

The psychiatrist in question became a close friend of the Aquino family. The doctor is now dead but he still has relatives living in Boston. Ninoy sought the doctor and his exact words to him were: “Tingnan niyo nga si Noynoy, walang ka-drive drive (for a young boy he was lethargic). He must have a problem.” The doctor told the story to some close friends among them, the source of this story. When Tomcat’s letter came out in Manila and with Noynoy a leading presidential candidate, she thought her story ought to be known. She is not a politician. She is not indulging in malicious rumors or black propaganda. She is recalling a story told to her and a circle of friends in Boston.

* * *

Psychiatry is a tradition in the doctor’s family. His mother was also a known psychiatrist and at one time headed a top mental hospital. She wrote a paper on how family interaction in the Philippines can cause mental sickness. The paper was published in American medical journals.

His strange behavior has been told by those who knew him closely, like the classmate from Ateneo, who hid under the pseudonym Tomcat. His recollections give details and can be verified by others who knew Noynoy then. These plus how Ninoy sought help for his son can be the starting point for a serious investigation.

In Tomcat’s letter he mentions the name of a psychiatrist, Dr. Manuel Escudero. He is not the doctor in Boston to whom Ninoy talked to about Noynoy.

Noynoy’s mental illness was a recurring problem, exploding in bouts while a student in Ateneo and again when they lived in exile in Boston. That belies claims he has been cured.

(Aquino’s household help have said he regularly takes seroquel and abilify, both medicines for mental illness. It is alleged that he is suffering a variant of labile disorder. Dr. SamVaknin writes that the “main dynamic in the Borderline Personality Disorder is abandonment anxiety.”

Tomcat wrote that in Ateneo his temper was well known and he had puzzling sudden mood swings. “Isang minuto, nakikikain ka kay Brudda Francis, mamayamaya nagagalit ka na.”

There are other reports of aberrant behavior. Bel Cunanan of Inquirer wrote in her column, “Some mayors relate that at a Tarlac festival, Noynoy was enjoying some halo-halo with local officials and other guests when quite suddenly, he blew some of it over the face of a friend. To the shock of those around him, Noynoy then began to laugh, as if it were a big joke.”

* * *

As one columnist put it “If psychiatric and psychological tests are required for a judge or a soldier, how much more for a president who has in his hands the fate of 92 million Filipinos?”

We must save our country from vultures who will feast on the carcasses of a doomed country. They are willing to sacrifice everything and everyone for the sake of their ambitions.

In saving our country, we also save Noynoy. He has a right to a happy, quiet life and should not be derided because of his mental problems. He needs help but not to become president of the Philippines.

Only a psychiatric test and the results made public can resolve the issue. Until then, people will continue to doubt his mental stability.

The stories of his friends in Ateneo, his Jesuit teachers and colleagues in Congress and the Senate must be collated and verified — every one and each of them. It should not be treated as mere gossip.

* * *

The Liberal Party ought to be more responsible. When the results of the test are known he should be persuaded to withdraw as Missouri Senator Eagleton withdrew his candidacy for vice-president in 1972 just 18 days after his announcement as George McGovern’s running mate after his shock treatments for depression were known.

There are enough of us to stop the recklessness of those who persist in putting up Noynoy as president. They should have done their homework. We must support sources who are afraid to identify themselves in fear of the unthinking mob. There is enough time before May 10 to conduct psychiatric tests on him and all the other presidential candidates for the sake of fairness.

FROM A DISTANCE By Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star) Updated April 24, 2010 12:00 AM

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=569244&publicationSubCategoryId=64

Dear Noynoy:

We were classmates at the Ateneo and I have no doubt that you would remember me even if we were not close. Hint: I was one of those who ribbed you about the low grade that Father Kreutz gave you in math because you could never seem to get your fractions right. Remember going ballistic over that ribbing? [Reverend Wiliam “Bill” Kreutz, SJ, is a long-time Ateneo teacher from New York who founded the Jesuit Volunteers of the Philippines—JR. All subsequent bracketed phrases are mine.]

Anyway, reading the psychological report that was posted on the Internet a few days ago certainly made me remember you. I heard you say on the news that the report was fake but you did admit that there were some things in it that were true. “Part truths” I think were your exact words. It fascinated me enough to want to read the report carefully to check out which were those things that were true.

Obvious things first, those facts that any of our classmates can confirm if asked. One of these is, as the report says, you have a labile disorder. This is whole truth. Even Father Gorospe would be distracted by your drooling during our oral exams. [The late Reverend Vitaliano Gorospe, SJ, was connected for a long time with the Ateneo Theology Department.] Father Ferriols, who made a point of showing he didn’t like you, would make side comments about it that led your classmates to give you the nickname “Cooper,” a reference to Cupertino school where we would teach Catechism to retarded children. I, however, never called you Cooper. [Reverend Roque Ferriols, SJ, taught Filipino Philosophy at Ateneo.]

The report says that you have a “major depressive disorder.” Well, I honestly don’t know if that is true. What I do know is that in school you were very temperamental and had sudden mood swings. Isang minuto, nakikikain ka kay Brudda Francis, maya’t maya nagagalit ka na. Many of our classmates can attest to witnessing scenes like this.

The report said that you used to go with your mom to see Dr. Manuel Escudero. That is a whole truth. I remember seeing you at Tito Maning’s high-rise apartment on Roxas Boulevard when we were still kids. Tito Maning was a consultant with the WHO here in Manila but he was also a psychiatrist who treated only the high society people in Manila. Even Imelda Marcos was his patient. Unfortunately, so was my mom who suffered from insecurities due to my dad’s numerous infidelities.

Tito Maning’s wife, Tita Jo, was a very good artist who had a couple of exhibits of her work before they left Manila for good a few years after martial law was declared. They lived in Topeka, Kansas. After they left, I kept a correspondence for a while with their very cute daughter Nina who I am sure you remember. I had such a crush on her. Maybe you did too. She used to talk to us “little folk” in the sala of their apartment while the “big folk” would lock themselves in the room and discuss “big folk” matters. She wanted to go to ballet school or some dance school which she did, I think, and I eventually lost track of her.

About your smoking marijuana, I also can’t say if that is wholly true. What I do know is that you would try to tag along with a group of students that would hang out with Ma’am Gloria Arroyo. [Yes, President Arroyo herself.] Mga students niya sa Economics. She was always surrounded by bright and handsome students kaya hindi ka pinapansin. Pati si Ma’am Placer, she never gave you the time of day kasi people said you were “medyo weird” and your grades were mababa per her standards.

Pero, you still tried to hang out with those guys. Trying hard to belong ba. I know those guys would drink na kasama pa si Miss Rosales na pag lasing na, kumakanta ng Spanish songs in Spanish. They would drink dozens of bottles of beer at Shakey’s Katipunan because Mrs. Ramos (our Spanish teacher in case you don’t remember) owned the restaurant. This group was also known to also smoke joints in the college auditorium, up in the closed space where the spotlights were. So, if you were hanging out with them then, you were probably also smoking marijuana too.

The report said you had a flight attendant girlfriend. This is another whole truth. I will not mention her name here to protect her but she was a PAL stewardess. I found out about this because I was on a flight with Father Samson [probably Ateneo de Davao president Reverend Antonio S. Samson] once and she was the one who seated us. When she found out we were from Ateneo, she introduced herself and said she was the girl friend of an Atenean and mentioned your name. Father Samson then asked jokingly if you were a good boyfriend to her. She shrugged and said you were “okay” but she was bothered because you were “too conservative.” You didn’t even like to kiss her daw because you were saving her for the wedding night. And you insisted that she dress very conservatively. Jealous boyfriend ka daw. No wonder that relationship ended. Maybe that’s why you got so depressed over it.

About the report. I know that [Ateneo-based Jesuit psychologist Reverend] Tito Caluag is one of your best friends. His group of “friends” are some of the richest and most influential people in the country today. I know that you used to frequently visit his home. He hosts get-togethers where things that are too esoteric for me are the subjects of discussion. At one time, this group of yours even discussed the ousting of [Ateneo president] Father [Bienvenido] Nebres because Tito Caluag had his own ideas on how Ateneo should be run. Maybe your closeness to him is why he was the one you went to when you were depressed and why he was the one who handled your case and signed your psychological report. To keep things quiet.

But I confess I actually don’t know. I do know that Tito Caluag was at one time your sister Kris’ father confessor. He may not be a very trustworthy father confessor, though, because many have heard him say aloud that “walang ginawa si Kris Aquino dito sa Ateneo kundi habulin si Alvin Patrimonio at mag-emote sa quadrangle”.

Anyway, yun muna. Good luck on your presidential run. If you become president of the Philippines, that would be really something, huh? From “Cooper” to “Mr. President” when brighter and more scheming Ateneans like Mar Roxas and Dick Gordon have not been able to make it is an achievement that Ripley should feature.

Your old friend,

Tomcat

Manila Standard Today
April 16, 2010

In 1974, Manny Villar and I worked together in the same division at the Private Development Corporation of the Philippines (PDCP), a development finance company (DFC) established under the auspices of the World Bank. While other PDCP departments dealt exclusively with the large Philippine corporations, we assisted small and medium enterprises as well as promoted countryside development through industry dispersal. Working with small entrepreneurs required a totally different approach. It involved lots of hand-holding and intimate understanding of the small entrepreneurs’ concerns and aspirations. This is the type of exposure PDCP gave us. Add to this Manny’s own business start-up experience of delivering sand and gravel and it is no wonder that he has made entrepreneurial development a capstone in his economic program. His desire is for small Filipino businessmen to thrive. Looking out for the “small guy”, is this maka-masa or what?

Yes, there is logic in the Left joining Manny Villar. This is the first time in a long while that our country can have a President who truly comes from the “masa”, understands their problems and has the solutions. Through his own life journey, he has shown how to rise from humble beginnings. If we don’t see Manny Villar chasing crowded buses anymore, it is because of his “kugi ug kayod” and not because he has been sharing in some hacienda’s earnings.