A PASSING FEVER
Before selective amnesia kicks in for good to the many yellow fever-inflicted Pinoys who now have blindly shifted their support to Noynoy Aquino and party saying that their candidate comes from an untainted (presidential) legacy some of his ancestors have left the country, perhaps it would be apropos to draw attention to a book on the late former President Corazon Aquino by Lewis Gleeck Jr., a former US embassy official who has lived in the Philippines since his retirement from the US foreign service, and is considered one of the foremost experts on the Philippines and frequently consulted by US officials on Asian and Philippine affairs.
Entitled "President Aquino: Sainthood Postponed," the book is a sequel to his first book "President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture." It pulls no punches and carries withering criticisms about what he calls "Aquino's failed presidency."
In his preface, Gleeck admits he has written what some may find as too critical of Aquino for which he says he makes no apologies. He further writes in the preface:
"Finally, I am firmly convinced that a government cannot perform adequately if its basic raison d'etre is revenge. I am not so Christian to believe that such sentiment is never justified, but revenge, as a basis of government covers up flaws in both the policies and performance of government. Hatred can so deform thinking that what the dethroned monster has done must be seen to be evil and its opposite, good. This was the rationale of Palace policies for the entire six years of the Aquino government."
"In summary, I regard the presidential term of Corazon Aquino as not only a failure, but at the end, a regression comparable to the worst days of the Marcos regime."
In a special message to American readers, he wrote:
"Cory Aquino, choreographed in 1986 by the world media and championed by the American government, flashed like a meteor through the heavens for two years, but failing to capture the coveted Nobel Prize, quickly sputtered to Earth."
"During the next four years, she was sustained in office largely through the efforts of the US which fell victim to its own delusion that it was supporting a saint who would lead the authoritarian-oppressed nations of the world to American-style democracy."
"Mrs. Aquino was not only inexperienced but untalented, a victim of grossly-simplified view of democracy, which in her mind seemed to consist of anything that ran counter to the acts of the Marcos government, some of whose policies were sound and effective."
"Since Marcos had been a strong leader, Cory abdicated leadership in favor of playing, first, chairman of a mediocre Board which could never agree, and then reached kaffeeklatsch decisions among her own cronies whose husbands occupied official positions which they constantly mismanaged. Mrs. Aquino tolerated total incompetence or corruption in her ministries and through repeatedly promising to correct anomalies, just as repeatedly reneged, blindly clinging to cronies and relatives."
So, if you believe "kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga," well, here you have it.
Before selective amnesia kicks in for good to the many yellow fever-inflicted Pinoys who now have blindly shifted their support to Noynoy Aquino and party saying that their candidate comes from an untainted (presidential) legacy some of his ancestors have left the country, perhaps it would be apropos to draw attention to a book on the late former President Corazon Aquino by Lewis Gleeck Jr., a former US embassy official who has lived in the Philippines since his retirement from the US foreign service, and is considered one of the foremost experts on the Philippines and frequently consulted by US officials on Asian and Philippine affairs.
Entitled "President Aquino: Sainthood Postponed," the book is a sequel to his first book "President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture." It pulls no punches and carries withering criticisms about what he calls "Aquino's failed presidency."
In his preface, Gleeck admits he has written what some may find as too critical of Aquino for which he says he makes no apologies. He further writes in the preface:
"Finally, I am firmly convinced that a government cannot perform adequately if its basic raison d'etre is revenge. I am not so Christian to believe that such sentiment is never justified, but revenge, as a basis of government covers up flaws in both the policies and performance of government. Hatred can so deform thinking that what the dethroned monster has done must be seen to be evil and its opposite, good. This was the rationale of Palace policies for the entire six years of the Aquino government."
"In summary, I regard the presidential term of Corazon Aquino as not only a failure, but at the end, a regression comparable to the worst days of the Marcos regime."
In a special message to American readers, he wrote:
"Cory Aquino, choreographed in 1986 by the world media and championed by the American government, flashed like a meteor through the heavens for two years, but failing to capture the coveted Nobel Prize, quickly sputtered to Earth."
"During the next four years, she was sustained in office largely through the efforts of the US which fell victim to its own delusion that it was supporting a saint who would lead the authoritarian-oppressed nations of the world to American-style democracy."
"Mrs. Aquino was not only inexperienced but untalented, a victim of grossly-simplified view of democracy, which in her mind seemed to consist of anything that ran counter to the acts of the Marcos government, some of whose policies were sound and effective."
"Since Marcos had been a strong leader, Cory abdicated leadership in favor of playing, first, chairman of a mediocre Board which could never agree, and then reached kaffeeklatsch decisions among her own cronies whose husbands occupied official positions which they constantly mismanaged. Mrs. Aquino tolerated total incompetence or corruption in her ministries and through repeatedly promising to correct anomalies, just as repeatedly reneged, blindly clinging to cronies and relatives."
So, if you believe "kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga," well, here you have it.
(Image from http://www.due-east.org/)
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