I had wanted it to be as comprehensive as possible but after much thought I realized a shorter and generic list would be enough.

So here goes. A list of things I would like the President-Elect to do immediately.

1. Stop making excuses.
2. Stop talking about your parents.
3. Start talking about your vision.
4. Start talking about your concrete plans.
5. Order your media handlers to stop feeding the Filipino people with showbiz crap.
6. Tell your sister Kris to stop talking, period.
7. Don’t appoint people based on their closeness to you. It’s distasteful especially when all they have going for them is their showbiz roots.

As simple as these are, I am confident these recommendations can help the President-Elect become more “presidential” and less “showbiz.”

Related to this, a commenter on my previous post “Aquino Wants Us To Lower Our Expectations” wrote:

Can we just let him be president first, and reserve the criticisms for later?

I think this is a sensible recommendation. However, I will follow it if and only if the President-Elect will start showing us that he is in charge of his camp and that he will no longer allow “showbiz” tactics and gimmicks to dictate his decisions and actions.

It’s time for REAL change. Are you up to it Mr. President-Elect?

Senator Noynoy Aquino finally announced his plan today the 40th day since the death of his mother former President Corazon Aquino. He made the announcement at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan the same place where Mrs. Aquino took her oath in 1986. Clearly, it’s all about symbolic connections.

Now here’s something for the really superstitious. Senator Aquino couldn’t have picked a better date to announce his candidacy. Today is September 9, 2009 or in shorthand 9/9/9. A very auspicious date indeed. But there’s more. Turn the numbers around and what do we get? 6/6/6. What’s the antonym of auspicious?

Here’s the transcript of Aquino’s announcement lifted from inquirer.net:

“Tinatanggap ko ang hiling ng sambayanan. Tinatanggap ko ang tagubilin ng aking mga magulang. Tinatanggap ko ang responsibilidad na ituloy ang laban para sa bayan. Tinatanggap ko ang hamon na mamuno sa laban na ito. Tatakbo po ako sa pagka-pangulo sa darating na halalan (I accept the voice of the people. I accept the advice of my parents. I accept the responsibility to continue the fight of the people. I accept the challenge to lead in this fight. I will run in the coming elections).”

“Hiling ng sambayanan” or “voice of the people.” Hmmm. I don’t know if I’m going deaf but I didn’t here anyone from our office, my neighborhood or my favorite barbershop say anything about wanting an Aquino candidacy or presidency. However, I did hear discussions on why Willie Revillame should take his own brand of “Pablik Serbis” to the next level by running for office. Now, I’m really wondering which “sambayanan” or taongbayan was the senator talking about.

“Ituloy ang laban para sa bayan” or “continue the fight of the people.” Now what was he talking about again? What fight exactly? The late Senator Ninoy Aquino fought for democracy but he was killed before he completed his mission. A few years later Cory Aquino took up the challenge and she succeeded in restoring democracy. Last time I checked the Philippines is still a democracy so Noynoy can’t possibly fight for that anymore. I wonder what fight is he  talking about.

Ok  maybe I’m rushing him. The good senator has already proven that he takes time deciding or — as other keen observers say — agonizing even over simple yes-or-no questions. Perhaps he needs more time to formulate a platform that contains all the necessary components to be of real consequence. Well, until he comes out with a decent platform we’ll just have to make do with his wonderful and awesome platform of yellow. Or not.

In the meantime, let’s reflect on the prospect of an Aquino presidency. Here’s a great visual aid by Filo of utakngtilapia.blogspot.com.

(WARNING: Image may cause psychological trauma to very young children. Keep this out of their sight.)