Discerning our Presidentiables: Noynoy

"KUNG WALANG CORRUPT, WALANG MAHIRAP." (If no one is corrupt, no one would be poor.") This is the central theme of Noynoy's presidential bid to be the opposite of GMA and her administration which has been mired in corruption scandals. It also appears to be a dig at Manny Villar's rising star, given the allegations of corruption or at least impropriety as to the C5 extension project. "Sipag at Tiyaga" is now, as the joke goes, "C5 at Taga."

Noynoy's website (www.noynoy.ph) also lays out his platform: TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP. Thus: "1. From a President who tolerates corruption to a President who is the nation's first and most determined fighter of corruption. 2. From a government that merely conjures economic growth statistics that our people know to be unreal to a government that prioritizes jobs that empower the people and provide them with opportunities to rise above poverty. 3. From relegating education to just one of many concerns to making education the central strategy for investing in our people, reducing poverty and building national competitiveness. 4. From treating health as just another area for political patronage to recognizing the advancement and protection of public health, which includes responsible parenthood, as key measures of good governance. 5. From justice that money and connections can buy to a truly impartial system of institutions that deliver equal justice to rich or poor."

Then he further spells out some plans for the economy, government service, gender equality, peace and order, and the environment.

Over-all, these are motherhood statements that may not connect with our voters, many of whom wallow in massive grinding poverty. As the Gospel tells us, you can't preach to an empty stomach.

And still, actions speak louder than words. Thus, I seriously doubt whether Noynoy can actually deliver "transformational leadership" when he is ironically surrounded now by GMA people like then commissioner James Jacob of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission that supposedly checks corruption in government, together with wily local leaders known for patronage politics like Jesse Robredo. Friends have even been dismayed to say after meeting with Noynoy that he sounded "katal sa daga" (out of this world).

But a more vital issue lacking in Noynoy's platform is how he will tackle the OLIGARCHY that dominates our economic and political life and which is at the core, if not the cause, of corruption. If this oligarchy remains, presidents will come and go and there will never be real transformation to a true democracy.