But still whether he likes it or not, he is responsible and should apologize not just to China but to the Filipino people as well.
The Editorial of the Philippine Daily Inquirer aptly describes what was Noynoy's fault. The Presidency is not for pogi points only. It needs serious work.
Well- you voted for him.
That Malacañang’s response cannot but be deemed wanting is regretful. Incredibly, it seems to have escaped the Palace that the hostage crisis had become a political incident and was no longer a police matter, and therefore required the proper employment of symbols. So that Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, who has supervision over the police but displayed nothing of the sort where and when it mattered, is now on the carpet. And President Aquino’s invisibility during the critical hours—when a brief message to his expectant public explaining the steps being taken could have shown that he was at the very least aware of what was going on—is perplexing, and only shows how badly served he is by his advisers.
This much is clear, even to the halfway attentive observer: The President’s “inner life” (again as Zizek terms it)—his easy-going, laid-back nature, his aversion to the limelight—has no place in the realm he dramatically conquered by a landslide. The people look to him as their leader, and a hands-on approach is imperative to constantly assure them that their choice at the polls was not a mistake.
His statement to reporters, made in a press conference at the end of the long tortuous day, that one could not “micromanage” everything with regard to the hostage crisis indicates a failure to appreciate the role he is called upon to play in this theater of governance. It disappoints because it appears to shirk responsibility. It displays—dare we say it?—a dangerous naiveté.
And we share that national stupidity that is Noynoy.
