Wazzup Pilipinas!
The country wanted to know:
The hashtag trended worldwide and perhaps those that do not know Tagalog and are not aware of what is happening in the Philippines, now is the opportunity to share to the whole world where our President was when the bodies of the fallen PNP-SAF men, slain by the MILF from the Mamasapano, Maguindanao "misencounter," arrived in Manila for an arrival honors ceremony at Villamor airbase.
I was already asking that question earlier in the day when I didn't see him at the Arrival Honors ceremony. Meanwhile, personalities like the former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos were seen at the grandstand of Villamor. Grandstanding.
The most clever and brightest people in Malacanang had no acceptable and reasonable answer for the simplest yet toughest national question: #WhereIsThePresident. #NasaanAngPangulo. Surprisingly, he was delivering a speech at the inauguration of the new Mitsubishi plant located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Filipinos are asking why? We were furious at Malacanang's reasoning: the car plant inauguration was pre-planned. The country was mourning while watching the bodies come out from the plane, but the President was all smiles somewhere else. Where is the President? He was busy elsewhere. Priorities.
What's more heart-breaking than seeing the mourning relatives of the dead? Knowing their Commander-in-Chief wasn't there for them. Attending a car plant inauguration instead of consoling with the families who lost their loved ones in Maguindanao. Not cool at all.
Lack of empathy. This was glaringly obvious even in the previous night's speech when the President tried to wash his hands off the accountability and responsibility by pointing fingers on his subordinates.
Wala sa schedule? If he's really concerned, he'll make time for it. As President, he could change his schedule according to what is truly important. Obama cancelled his schedule to the meet the returned bodies of fallen troops. Even the Pope changed his itinerary as he saw fit during the Papal Visit.
A medal of honor isn't enough to acknowledge what they did. The least you could have given was your presence. Our cops and troops should have realized by now that they have been serving under a leader totally undeserving of even a drop of their blood.
To honor these brave men with his presence should have been his priority. Ill advised yet again! A great leader is always seen and present in the front lines no matter what the cost. That's the quality of leader we need.
The Filipinos were there when your parents died but when those Filipinos died not even your shadow was seen. The Filipinos packed the streets to mourn with you but you were not there when your men, as you are their Commander-in-Chief, came back lifeless from an ultimate sacrifice.
What is worst is that nobody in the higher ranks would claim responsibility for the vague "Oplan Wolverine" mission that cost the lives of our countrymen.
Today was declared as the National Day of Mourning but just like what the President believes in, work still continues. It's not a non-working holiday, there are no class suspensions, everything continues as a normal day. The Filipino people are again robbed of the opportunity to mourn with the rest of the country because they will be too busy attending to their other obligations.
"I don't attend wakes of people I don't know" is the president's words of wisdom. But he has the availability for a Vice Ganda TV show interview, movie premiere of his nephew Bimby, opening of the Jollibee fastfood chain in Singapore, investigating the "Martilyo Gang" incident, attending the DongYan wedding, and attending the inauguration of the Mitsubishi car plant. He can make time for flashy weddings and crappy movies, but why is he a no-show in this grave hour?
But is this
I'm almost tired of looking for accountabilities because just like our search for the President, it would seem so futile when there are people that continue missing the point, and would "lie, cheat and steal" for him. The guilty knows who they are.
Honestly, most of us actually voted for him for President not because of his credentials, qualifications, achievements or capabilities, but mainly because of his parents. He was never really a "hero," but just a symbol of our search for hope - that he would save us from the same shitty governance he is involved in.
Let us not waste our time looking for the President everytime there's a national concern. It is obvious that he does not know what values most.
Also, we cannot find all the answers online. How many of us who dissed the absence of the President were actually there to condole to condole? Most of the time we need to get out of our comfort zones and sometimes offer the same ultimate sacrifice as well if we really want to find the real answers to our questions.
A moment of silence for the fallen men of our country but a furious shout out to our confused President.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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