I was pleasantly surprised on turning to the Inquirer opinion section of November 18 that political columnist Manolo Quezon had mentioned my blog entry about autism and Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

Manolo Quezon takes a long view on politics and autism

It’s not everyday an ordinary reporter gets mentioned in a national daily. I guess it’s also not everyday a prominent politician is tagged autistic.

Before I drop this matter altogether, let me just say that having lived with a person belonging to the autism spectrum it has oftentimes struck me that Philippine society on the whole seems to be metaphorically afflicted with the same disorder when it comes to the political sphere for the following reasons:

• We exhibit lack of affect or emotions of outrage whenever government officials commit wrongdoing;
• We cannot look government officials in the eye and say – you liar or you thief;
• We have difficulty focusing on what’s really important, the big picture,  like poverty and corruption and tend to get lost in details;
• We have difficulty processing events and exhibit sensory overload;
• We perseverate or repeat the same actions again and again, actions that don’t work but we somehow find comforting.

But this is just my opinion.

My personal opinion

This is a most difficult piece to write. But since I vowed to myself when I started this blog that I should tell the truth no matter how painful, I’m writing this.

Do I think Sen. Benigno Noynoy Aquino III is autistic?

Before I answer that, I need to make a full disclosure. My son, 15, was initially diagnosed PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified) at age 3. That puts him in the high-functioning end but still within the autistic spectrum.  Because of all the negative connotations that the word “autism” has in Philippine society I prefer to call him non-neurotypical (NNT).

Relying solely on my personal experience and close encounters with other NNT persons I would say that when I interviewed Sen. Aquino up close and when I covered him on two occasions he did not strike me as NNT.

Senator Benigno Aquino III, photo by Raissa Robles

Many NNTs have atypical linguistic and speech patterns. For instance my son has a hard time saying “I” and often says his own name when talking about himself. Like other NNTs I’ve met, my son tends to speak in a monotone. His voice doesn’t go up at the end of a question sentence. He also doesn’t like looking directly into other people’s eyes.

I found Sen. Aquino’s speech pattern totally normal compared to, say, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero who sounds robotic during interviews. But Sen. Chiz is also not NNT and he sounds perfectly normal when he talks casually with other people, like the time he recently sat down with bloggers. Actually, Sen. Aquino’s voice sounds like that of his uncle, Congressman Agapito Butz Aquino, whom I’ve interviewed many times.

What I’ve noticed about Sen.Noynoy is that in certain photos there is a marked resemblance between him and Kris Aquino’s son, Joshua, a confirmed NNT. They are after all family.

Also, if you look at that part of his Youtube video where he’s walking, you’ll notice he doesn’t move with ease and grace.

Noynoy Aquino \” Hindi Ka Nag iisa \” Music Video

Motor movement is a neurological function. But you’ll have to ask a neurologist whether the five bullets that struck different parts of his body including his brain – where one bullet remains lodged today – affected his movement and balance somehow.

Business Mirror columnist Butch del Castillo hinted heavily that Sen. Noynoy was indeed autistic, citing this recent incident:

What intensified public curiosity about the state of his “neurological development” was the way he blew his top when a reporter asked him what he could say about the charge that one prominent candidate was autistic. “Do I have to respond to that?” he shot back, rather testily, adding that he would not entertain further questions from that reporter. In that brief instant, Noynoy, the otherwise affable presidential wannabe, unwittingly made a public display of a streak of meanness that other candidates would painstakingly hide while on the stump.

During his brief tantrum, Noynoy followed through with the vow that he would not entertain further questions from the media on the subject. And then, in a calmer moment minutes later, he defensively pointed out that he had earned an economics degree from a prestigious school. But it was too late to undo the damage. Clearly, he knew and tacitly admitted that he was the candidate alluded to by Manong Ernie.

By reacting so childishly to a perfectly legitimate question, Noynoy only succeeded in giving the impression that the actual state of his neurological development has been a closely guarded family secret over the past 45 years. And now, the speculations just wouldn’t die down.

I think if he were autistic he could not have reacted like that because autistic persons usually display a lack of affect or emotional response and have a hard time reading social cues.

Butch called him childish and testy and his retort a tantrum and a streak of meanness that other candidates would painstakingly hide.

Sen. Noynoy was indeed testy. I would attribute that to his not being used to facing a highly critical press. It’s nothing personal, senator. You’re running for the highest office in the land and many journalists, including me, have been burned before by taking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at face value.

What I can fault Sen. Noynoy with, and this I’ve confirmed with other reporters who have interviewed him, is that he takes questions too personally. He thinks when a reporter asks him tough questions that puts him on the spot the reporter has this thing against him or is angry with him for some reason.

When I asked him about Hacienda Luisita, he suddenly crossed his arms in front of his chest – which is usually a sign for me that a source does not want to talk about it.

As for his testy response, his cousin and presidential rival Gilberto Teodoro, is equally blunt. When I interviewed Teodoro recently and asked him if as a lawyer he personally found any basis for all the allegations against President Arroyo his retort to me was:

That’s an inappropriate question to ask a cabinet member of the president.

When I told him I was asking him as a presidential candidate he said,

No, it’s inappropriate and I’m a cabinet member and there are institutional loyalties and courtesies that warrant -

But that’s another story

The evidence that Sen. Noynoy is abnormal – and therefore should not be voted president – seemed all there.

And Business Mirror columnist Butch del Castillo recounted it in excruciating detail using unnamed sources who had seen Noynoy acting “autistic.”

Butch wrote:

As a 3-year-old, Noynoy was a hyperactive tot. His boundless energy made him run around here, there and everywhere in their residential compound. For his own safety, he had to be put on a makeshift leash controlled by his yaya or nanny. “Before he was put on a leash, he was running around the yard as usual when the family’s guard dog, a Doberman, somehow escaped from its kennel. It took a courageous Kris Aquino to save her helpless brother from being mangled, but she herself got bitten in the lower leg.

This must be true, I thought in horror. Except for one tiny detail . Let’s see, Noynoy was 3 when this incident happened. And how old was Kris?

Noynoy was born February 8, 1960 and Kris was born February 14, 1971. So when Kris saved Noynoy from the Doberman she was what —- a mote in God’s eye?

You get the picture. But that Doberman scene that Butch retold sure was realistic.

He also wrote:

Another old acquaintance of the family confirms that, notwithstanding former senator Butz Aquino’s vehement protestations about his nephew’s condition, “it’s a fact that Noynoy had to be sent to a special school.” That was when Noynoy was 5 or 6 years old, the family acquaintance says. Trouble is he can’t recall the name of the particular school where Noynoy was supposed to have received specialized guidance.

Hmm. Special school, eh. Let’s look at Noynoy’s school record. Got it. In 1965 or at the age of 5 he did enter a special school. It’s still standing and because it has a strange name let me spell it out for you , Butch.

It’s called    A-T-E-N-E-O   D-E   M-A-N-I-L-A     U-N-I-V-E-R-S-I-T-Y.

I understand First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and his son, Congressman Juan Miguel Arroyo, as well as the former President Joseph Estrada all had to be sent to the same special school you alluded to.

And President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo once taught there.

It must really be very special.

One other thing, Butch. You wrote:

In the circles that I circulate in, I was taken aback by the little anecdotes about Noynoy, all of which only seem to add credence and depth to suspicions of his actual condition. For example, there is this councilor from Makati who claims to have known Noynoy since he was a boy. This councilor swears he used to see this “quiet” boy whenever politicians and supporters of the late Cory would pay her a call at her residence on Times Street, Philam Village, Quezon City.

“He would just sit in a corner, mouth open but never saying a thing, and drooling,” the Makati councilor loudly tells everyone he meets. For all we know he is just making this up, considering that he belongs to a rival political party. But still, it would be very hard to cook up such things.

Wow, Noynoy was just scrunched up in a corner, stupidly quiet, and drooling.

But two paragraphs later, you described a very different kid:

As a 3-year-old, Noynoy was a hyperactive tot. His boundless energy made him run around here, there and everywhere in their residential compound. For his own safety, he had to be put on a makeshift leash controlled by his yaya or nanny.

You sure you’re talking about the same kid? Not yourself maybe or your own kid? [Full disclosure: I knew your wife Julie when she and I were working in Business Day newspaper. I don't know if I ever meet you. I heard then you were spinning in behalf of then dictator Ferdinand Marcos' very best spinmeister – Gregorio Cendana.]

P.S. I’d love to read your next spin on Noynoy. It’s highly entertaining.

(Coming soon - Part 2: Did Sen. Noynoy strike me as autistic when I interviewed him?)

It was an ambush interview and therefore the question – “Why are you still a bachelor?” – understandably caught him by surprise.

The Philippines has had only one wifeless president – Elpidio Quirino – but he was a widower grieving over his wife Alicia and three of his five children who were murdered by Japanese soldiers during the Battle of Manila in the Second World War.

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In the same way that the late US President Richard Nixon once waltzed with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos?

This waltz, which culminated in Marcos’ declaration of martial law, is detailed in the once top secret but now declassified presidential papers of Nixon.

Why rake up events of almost 40 years ago? Because those events are uncannily repeating themselves again today, such as the stubborn moves to change the constitution, the threat to impose martial law, and the bombings in Metro Manila.

And because the US government continues to act to this day as an overlord or superior of the Philippine government. Here’s proof. Remember last year when the Philippine government was about to sign the controversial MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year?

The US Ambassador, Kristie Kenney, was there to witness the signing which was scuttled by the Supreme Court.

We can reasonably assume her government got an advance copy of the MOA-AD – which hands over territory to the rebels along with vast powers – whereas the entire nation was kept in the dark about its contents.

I skipped the invite to cover US State Secretary Hillary Clinton’s lightning visit to Manila yesterday because all the action will happen behind closed doors. And we will know what really took place maybe 30 years from now when the top secret report on her “intimate” talk with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is declassified.

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