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Last Friday, I had the opportunity, thanks to Atty. Mocring Barcenas, to emcee the program of the meeting of Noynoy Aquino with different sectors of society at Sacred Heart Center. It was my first close encounter with Noynoy Aquino, although I?d seen him on several occasions when he accompanied his mother, the late former president Cory Aquino.
Noynoy struck me as a shy person. When he came into the convention hall he took the side entrance to the presidential table, so people had to approach him to give him their warmest welcome. Noynoy had no air of superiority that we commonly sense among budding and veteran politicians. Noynoy just sat meekly, listening to the speeches and reacting almost sheepishly to funny statements.
It was a breath of fresh air for many of us. He was not the regular politico who has perfected the art of hugging and patting people?s shoulders. I think what is important is that unlike the others, he has no trace of greed for power in his eyes.
I am happy to say that those who attended the meeting were people who are good and sincerely hope for change. Many came from poor sectors of society. Just as admirable is the fact that the people surrounding Noynoy, although some of them have been in politics for decades, are not the corrupt, wheeling-and-dealing opportunists that plague our government. The Liberal Party surely has no monopoly of good intentions but its members have none or fewer dirty linen to wash than those of other parties.
When Noynoy spoke, we were reminded of his mother Cory because his tone was conversational, minus the bombast and rabblerousing of his voluble and eloquent father Ninoy. But Noynoy was able to make the crowd listen to him intently and I was amazed.
I think in the next few days or weeks we can see political developments that would be good for the Liberal Party and Noynoy. I heard some good news from the campaign manager, Butch Abad, about some political leaders who had signified their intentions to support Noynoy?s bid and join the LP. I am not a bit surprised because recent surveys put Aquino in the number one spot among presidential aspirants.
I got a copy of the latest SWS survey, which gave Noynoy a rating of 60 percent, followed by Manny Villar with 37. The survey asked each respondent to give three names that he thought would be the next leader after Gloria Arroyo. But there is a rider of that same survey, asking the respondents to name their top choice only, and the result showed that Noynoy Aquino got 51 percent, followed by Villar with 20, Erap Estrada with 11, and Chiz Escudero with 8.
In the same survey for vice presidential choices, Roxas got 38 percent, followed by Escudero with 21, Legarda with 17 and Binay with 6. The same survey also showed the top teams with the Aquino-Roxas tandem getting 57 percent, followed by Villar-De Castro with 19, Escudero-Legarda with 9 and Estrada-Binay with 9.
If the next survey has similar results, I think some of the ?presidentiables? will pursue other options. Gibo Teodoro?s name did not appear probably because the survey was taken on September 18-21, when he was not yet declared the ruling party?s bet. In the House of Representatives mock polls, Gibo was number one, and that makes him the top choice of traditional politicians.
A political observer said that once the political machinery of the administration starts to operate, it will be goodbye for Noynoy. I immediately retorted that it is true if the fight is neck to neck, but in the case of Noynoy Aquino, the surveys show a wide margin.
Barring any poll fraud, no political machinery can match the people?s choice. It has happened time and again: candidates for local posts of the administration supporting national candidates from other parties or giving their supporters the freedom to choose among the national candidates.
Of course it is still a long way to go. We still have seven months before the May 10 election, and many things can still happen. But what I am sure of is that Noynoy Aquino?s group is composed of political leaders who fight for and stand for decency, honesty, integrity and democracy, while other parties can hardly claim the same.
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One of the things Noynoy talked about is the country?s state of education, which clearly pales in comparison to those of other countries. That?s basically because basic education (grade school and high school) in other countries lasts 12 years, while ours is just 10.
What makes matters worse is that the increasing number of students is not dealt with adequately by the government. Lack of teachers and classrooms force some public schools to shorten class hours from eight hours to four, so they can accommodate all pupils.
Noynoy plans to send some of the students in public schools to private schools because it is more practical than building a classroom that costs about P500,000. His computation showed that if private schools would accept a tuition fee of P8,000 then more than 60 students can be sent to a private school, and no money would go to the pockets of corrupt officials.
I think this is one idea that private schools would be happy to support. Some private schools in small towns are closing down because the cost of operation is too high and the number of enrollees is not increasing. Noynoy?s plan would save these private schools.
