Noynoy succeeded in presenting himself as the antithesis of Arroyo, promising not to steal and vowing to prosecute Arroyo for all the alleged wrongdoings committed by her and her underlings. If Noynoy’s candidacy was jumpstarted by the death of his mother, his victory was made possible by fanning the anti-Arroyo flames in the country.
But like any heroic figure, Noynoy still had a real fight on his hands during the election. Throughout the three-month campaign, Noynoy had to fend-off criticism from rival political camps and overnight critics. Some accusations were baseless, such as Noynoy’s supposed mental illness. But there were also some more serious allegations that affected his campaign. For example, Noynoy’s qualifications as a national leader were questioned when rivals exposed his uninspiring legislative record, while others believe he exploited the memory of his beloved deceased parents to ‘inherit’ the presidency.
Meanwhile, critics from the left took him to task over the decades-old promise of his family to distribute a huge sugar plantation estate owned by the Aquino family to more than 10,000 small farmers. The estate, known as Hacienda Luisita and located in Tarlac Province, is the second-biggest family-owned plantation in the country and has become a national symbol of the continued reign of feudal landlords and oligarchs in rural Philippines.
So how did Noynoy address the legitimate issues raised by his political enemies? Asked about his lack of experience and underwhelming performance as a legislator, Noynoy’s spokespersons highlighted his integrity and sincerity as a leader. Noynoy for his part downplayed the land ownership dispute by accusing his critics of politicizing what he said is, to him, a simple business matter between landowners and farmer-tenants (Aquino was later forced to pledge to place the controversial estate under the land reform programme in the next five years).
But if Noynoy seemed evasive when responding to charges levelled against him, he was aggressive and precise in identifying the many alleged sins and weaknesses of his main rival, Sen. Manny Villar. Noynoy described Villar as a dangerous and corrupt leader no different from the incumbent president, and went so far as to describe Villar as Arroyo’s secret candidate. This propaganda drive was instrumental in undercutting Villar’s growing support base, which at one point threatened Noynoy’s once insurmountable lead.
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kirsty
“Hacienda Luisita… the second-biggest family-owned plantation in the country”
what’s the first largest?
Paparay
Mong, great writeup and analysis of the recent election. I think, unfortunately, you are correct that too much time and effort will be wasted with in-fighting to allow real progress to be made for Filipinos. This country needs strategic vision and rolling up of sleeves and good old fashion elbow grease! Time for the Pols to stop playing games of ego and pay attention to the lives of 90 million people. But the bottom line is it needs to be Filipinos who drive the direction and not outsiders who own all the major banks and businesses and pull the strings. The Pols are just creating chaos and confusion to distract while other “business” goes on as usual, as intended by those really pulling the strings.