By Raissa Robles
A highly unflattering picture of PNoy, released by the presidential palace, has reaped over 200 mostly negative comments on the social networking site Facebook.
I was drawn to look closely at it, not only because of the awkward tilt of President Benigno Aquino’s head, but also because of the posted comments, criticizing the large crystal ashtray and box of cigarettes on his nearly empty desk, and the shabby chic wallpaper on which the presidential seal was displayed.
The general observation made by the commentators were that the office lacked presidential dignity. The ash tray and cigarettes on PNoy’s desk showed he was violating the new No Smoking Law. And his nearly empty desk was proof of a do-nothing presidency.
See for yourself below:
Official photo from Malacanang Palace
My Facebook friend Buddy Cunanan said:
I just came from Malacanang today. I went incognito on a tour of the Palace and saw the officer where Quezon, Quirino, Marcos etc worked and made historic decisions…the offices looked and felt presidential. There was a sense of destiny and power and fate in those rooms. At the risk of sounding overly-negative, what the hell is with this guy’s office?? It’s pathetic. It conveys none of the grandeur and greatness of the offices of yesteryear. How sad.
My Facebook friend Luwi Cheng, who had posted the photograph, replied:
Buddy, i already commented on this tacky interiors almost a year ago. I thought it is just a temporary office but it looks like the president is comfortable about the looks of his office. pordyosporsanto, the wallpaper is a remnant of the era when his mother occupied that building! and don’t tell me this is part of his austerity program. i am sure there is a budget for his office maintenance and improvement but why oh why he he taken into liking that tacky wallpaper that is not even fit for a powder room in today’s contemporary interiors!
To which Buddy answered back:
OMG. This is such a lousy photo. Is it just my imagination or does this President really have no decent photographs?? How/Why did they allow this photo to be released?
Yes. Why?
But before I go any further, let me explain why I’m writing about what others might call trivial pursuits when there are more serious things to write about like – what is the President doing about reducing poverty and extra-judicial killings.
To me, what is happening is a chipping away of the President’s image. In the long run this could reduce his credibility and the people’s trust in him to perform his duties and functions and deliver on his promises. Statistically, this is often measured through popularity and trust surveys – where his numbers have been dipping.
Luwi Cheng correctly pointed out that PNoy’s photo contradicted the government drive against smoking:
I cannot understand why MMDA the chairman of which was appointed by him, will wage a vigorous campaign to stop smoking when the poster boy for smokers is aquino himself! Here we can see the blatant dichotomy of this administration that professes to stop smoking in public and yet, the president himself is one big smoker himself as attested by the picture. Now, is that not stupidity in the higest order?
Two other commentators questioned PNoy’s work ethic, based on the emptiness of his desk.
Patricia Ilagan said that in the Australian hospital where she worked as an administration officer,
even my desk and the desks of executives i’ve been into were/are never sooo uncluttered! i thought they said he has piles of paper on his desk to go through daily? liars!
Based on the photo, Sylvia Cenon Sana concluded that PNoy was lazy:
siya ang sinuntok ni Inday Sara Duterte at ng magtrabaho. By the looks of it he is not a working President. What i can see he is just pretending sitting down and doing some work but actually after photo taken just got up straight to his playroom complete with toys.
And so I checked the authenticity of the photo.
Photo is authentic
Yes, it’s genuine. Manolo Quezon, the Undersecretary for the President’s Strategic Planning Office, confirmed to me today that the room in which PNoy was photographed was indeed his official study – last year.
Aside from asking Quezon if that was indeed PNoy’s official study, I also asked him – ”Why is the wallpaper flowered? Was this his mother’s old study? Where is it in Malacañang? Why are there no mounds of paper on the desk to show he’s hard at work?
The historian in Quezon replied:
That’s the one with ricky (Carandang)? And es (Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa)?
That was taken many months ago.
The room is the aquino room in bonifacio hall (guest house) where fm (Marcos) was staying when ninoy (Aquino) was killed; where cory held office; which was renovated as eraps (Estrada’s) bedroom; where (Renato) de villa, (Alberto) romulo, etc held office during gma (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo); and where the president holds office.
The wallpaper dates to the estrada administration.
I can’t recall the actual event when that photo was taken but might be around october or even earlier last year.
More checking revealed that the photo above was in the same batch that an official photographer must have taken that day of Carandang, Ochoa and PNoy. Newsbreak had the same photo above, and this one below:
President Benigno Aquino. Presidential Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa pose for a photograph - PHOTO from Malacañang Palace
I asked Quezon to explain where Bonifacio Hall was, and whether that was the building opposite the main palace. He explained:
bonifacio hall was formerly known as the premier guesthouse, originally the servants quarters. In 1975 the marcoses gave lots in cogeo to the palace staff and turned it into the guest house where they stayed during the periodic renovations of the palace: most especially 78-79 when they demolished and rebuilt the palace, in 81 when air purification equipment was installed and in 83 when fm was ill. Cory held office there, estrada renovated it adding the twin canopies patterned after the canopy in kalayaan hall; and ermita and all of gmas executive secretaries held office there. Gma by proclamation renamed the building bonifacio hall in 2003.
But Quezon told me that PNoy was no longer holding office in that room because the entire building was now being checked for structural soundness.
Does an empty desk denote laziness?
I noticed that Quezon did not reply to my last question - Why are there no mounds of paper on the desk to show he’s hard at work?
And so I looked for the answer.
Interestingly, here’s what I found: United States President Barack Obama has the same nearly empty desk that PNoy had, minus the ash tray and pack of cigarettes. See below:
US President Barack Obama - PHOTO courtesy of Free Images
US President Barack Obama - PHOTO courtesy of Free Images
While pictures can speak louder than words, pictures have to be compared to other pictures for a more accurate interpretation.
The comparison of Obama and PNoy’s desk tend to show that the bareness of a desk is not a gauge of lack of hard work or industry.
Also, PNoy’s photo was taken last year when no smoking ban was in place.
But I agree with you, Luwi. THAT office looked tacky, especially for a male head of state.
As for PNoy looking awkward, yes he did, but that doesn’t still make him an “abnoy” (abnormal) as some of his critics continue to call him to this day. PNoy is not the most photogenic president, unlike Ex-President Arroyo.
Still, there are some photos where even Mrs Arroyo looks strange like this one:
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
But ugliness or handsomeness ought not to be the basis for judging a person’s character. Remember, the devil Lucifer was the handsomest guardian angel in the heavens, according to St. Thomas’ Summa Theologica.
I’m sure you and I have photos we have torn and thrown because we look ugly in them. Look, PNoy’s cousin Gilbeto Teodoro has a similar awkward tilt of the head in this photo. Doesn’t it make Gibo look somewhat gay?
PNoy's cousin, Gilberto Teodoro
But he’s not, right?
Nice strategy in defending the yellow family.. I am very much impressed on how much effort you are putting on your articles to defend Pnoy.
No one is above the law? Oh, come on………
Hi there! I just love u raissa! so far this is the most sensible blog ive read! way to go!
Hmmm.
I’m sensible.
Thanks.
Being orderly is a sign of efficiency. Well maybe the wallpaper looks tacky but I guess people are forgetting the fact that this president is not into glamor or vanity. His priority are the Filipino people. You people chill out.
Weeeee hindi nga?!
Hindi kaya prirotiy nya HACIENDA LUISITA?
Hi, Raissa
Kudos to your very interesting blog where everyone enjoys reading ‘though how pre’occupied he or she maybe.
Keep on writing for the good of every Filipino.
I will Cel.
Do keep dropping by
If the president wants to smoke leave him be, we are a free country and as long as he doesn’t smoke in front of others (who are non-smokers) he has the right to do so.
The real gauge of a good and hardworking president is not measured by the stacks of folders and clutters in his desk but by his accomplishments, incorruptibility and honesty unlike the jailed ex-president who was well known to be a “workaholic” because she works very hard to cheat us in elections and works harder more to plunder us!
what was his accomplishment(s)? if there are any? i mean SIGNIFICANT accomplishments.. or even minor accomplishments.. winning the presidential election was significant i guess. well his anti wang-wang wasn’t so successful wasn’t it? or if did – did it improve anything?
How do you define Good?Hardworking? You must be a die hard yellow horde member to comment like this, bakit may nagawa ba si Abnoy ?Mahiya ka sa sarili mo, batugan ka tulad ng idol mo, mag yosi ka na lang at mag psp bagay
“…People who are not guilty of any sin, let him cast the first stone.” I strongly agree , the ash tray and the pack of cigarette really painted a bad picture of the president but certainly NOT the table. Ramos didn’t have this kind of criticism with his perpetual cigar which gives someone more loads of nicotine – if smoked. I came across a site where all netizens are calling the president names plus the curses because of this photo. I regret calling GMA a “midget thief” here and on other social network because it even made me bitter particularly about her misuse of our (OFWs) legitimate money, the OWWA money. And the more I get bitter, the more she wins – because in anger, the devil wins. This is the reason why Jesus Christ himself told his disciples something like: “In your anger, do not sin”. I tried to google some reasons why people resort to name-calling and here’s the best opinion I have so far gathered:
.Life is a circle after all – and GMA can surely attest to its truthfulness. But I would rather have a smoking president with a clean table and lousy photograph with unquestionable mandate than a president so neat in hair and dress but with unimaginable questions on integrity. I saw on ABS-CBN TFC the other day that Susan Roces & her daughter will try to pursue a case which eventually would lead to Fernando Poe Jr. be declared as the legitimate president. Ouch! Actually, I am not waiting for the result of the government’s “trivial pursuit” to put GMA behind bars. It is enough for me that FPJ be declared as the legitimate president 
. Then that finally seals another landmark in our history. BTW, here’s the link to more photos of the US president tables – different generations. PNoy name-callers, indulge!
“In my experience, most people who resort to name calling have a very limited ability to express themselves. When they feel threatened by an answer they don’t agree with, they fall back on the only thing they understand, which is to lash out.” Remarkably, even educated and accomplished people are not spared from this uncivilized manner. Well, the Golden Rule is the best antidote for most of mankind’s behavioral sickness – I have been rebuked.
http://chellgrove.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/president-obamas-oval-office-chair/
I agree we have to stop calling others “names”!!!
I’m just wondering if its true that pNoy is addicted to videogames and has psp with him wherever he go?
I heard he plays psp with Joshua sometimes.
whoaaahh….ganyan pala ang office ni Pnoy!!!kulob na kulob….he needs fresh air. kasi if mag yosi siya jan…d makalabas ang usok!!!
Only one thing i could say. the picture is okay, i mean, normal, unaware, candid but the interior needs some work.
on the smoking habit of PNoy – can anyone tell me if he smokes in front of non-smokers?
Miss Raissa,
I’m glad I clicked on your blog today and ended up on this page.
Honestly, I can’t stop laughing at the GMA photo. She looks ready to swallow that hand and arm whole. That tongue also reminds me of an old KISS photo.
Cheers!
Cheers!
The President has no idea what is the feedback of the people what they saw in her office..The President is making a terrible image for the country executive..Mr. President the only way to make your image good is that do not allow your staff to take picture that you have ash tray @ cigarettes in your table!!! …
i love you noy. i love you gloria. i love you gibo. i love you hitler. i love you satanas.i love everyone. muah…
I dont see anything wrong kung mag smoke ang president. Kung nag smoke xa, eh stress reliever nya naman un eh. Sa dami ng problema ng bansa natin he needs it.
Grabe naman tao din nmn ang president natin. Let him smoke kung kailangan nya nmn eh. Mas gus2 ko ng nag smoke ang presidente kesa nmn nangungurakot, nandadaya, at kung ano ano pang kalokohan.
we will never have a perfect President but at least our current President is doing his best to improve our country. His intentions as i see is honest and sincere.
Hindi malulutas ang problema ng bansa agad it will take time. Im sure maraming mag iimprove sa term nya pero naniniwala ako na hindi lahat malulutas.
no problem with smoking, hell i don’t even care if he’s a drunkard/gambler/womanizer/gay as long as he achieves something. but what was his achievements so far? any significant/concrete achievements that you can attribute to your president? anti wang-wang? that wass it? economy is dwindling if your not aware. 1 Trillion pork barrel for 2012 – the biggest PB budget so far (GMA’s average was 55B/yr). vietnam/indonesia/srilanka are whooping our sorry asses..
Hi, Miss Raissa,
I’ve used this picture of our uber handsome president for my blog. I gave due credits to you po. Thanks for sharing this picture to us, Miss Raissa.
http://rightonthemark.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/my-five-realizations-on-noynoy-aquinos-unflattering-viral-photo/
Ok
>implying obama is a hardworking president.
I must agree, the picture does look unflattering. The Press Office should been more sharp.
I personally do not mind the uncluttered desk – it speaks well about the efficiency of his staff/assistants.
An uncluttered desk is good feng sui. It allows for free flowing good energy and thughts to transpire. It may also allude that the good president does act on matters/papers that need to be signed – pronto.
He may also like it this way… all clutter/paper be at another table.
The only negative thing here is the ashtray.
No wonder, since he’s a typical of a do nothing president..
Haha! seems like a piece of somebody working with the comm group.
You are absolutely right! Nobody would ever believe that Gibo is gay….but I am pretty sure that a lot do believe that the man you defend is an “ABNOY”. So mali pa rin ang justification mo sa pag gamit ng pic ni Gibo.
It’s the truth. He’s not an Abnoy.
He may be slow but he’s not an Abnoy.
Hindi ba abnoy yung mag joke tuwing panahon ng krisis? Cotabato flooding?
Hanggang ngayon.
http://www.newsbreak.ph/2011/06/28/how-i-click-the-shutter-in-my-1st-year-with-pnoy/
It is a sad day for our country when a sitting President is negatively judged on the basis of a photograph taken of him in his office. Also sad is that this shows that there still people who will not allow the President to succeed. this is the ultimate in our Crab Mentality.
hindi komo malinis ang desk nya ibig sabihin nun lazy na ang isang empleyado. dito sa saudi especially sa company ko pg nakita ng manager namin na maraming papel sa desk mo ibig sabihin nun di mo ginagawa ang trabaho mo kaya tumatambak, pero kung nakita nyang malinis ang desk mo ibig sabhin nun ginagawa mo talaga ang trabaho mo kahit gaano pa karami yan. simpleng logic di ba pero un ang totoo.
While we are on the subject of the WORKING PRESIDENT let us find out WHAT HE CAN DO ABOUT THE CRY OF THE LOYOLA HEIGHTS COMMUNITY ON BILLBOARDS ALONG KATIPUNAN AVENUE. QC
THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT
People must learn more about photo or picture reading; it does’nt follow that just because an office table is almost empty of documents/papers etc – the owner is lazy or doing nothing.
Would you want to see a table full of papers / documents, and but when you examine them – they are all post dated (mga lumang documento na) – I shall say, that must be what we call “showmanship” all for nothing. – just to show that maraming trabajo ang owner kaya maraming documento sa table niya.
Let us be more circumspect when making comments or prudent in criticising, afterall, we are talking of the seat of the Philippine government here, “ang dumi sa mata ng ating govierno ay dumi na rin sa ating mga Pinoy”
raissa,
Your logic does not even amount to a fifth grader. Saying that slurring gays in the guise of narrative fiction is plain BS. Ok, you did not say it that plainly but you did by saying so, go figure.
BTW, this piece of garbage you call as a blog post, is no better than PEP or The Buzz. Only, they don’t masquerade around as some intellectual elitist a-hole. In short, they are more honest and true to their words than you are.
Yo, epic
I seem to have touched a raw nerve.
Hmmm.
If this is a piece of garbage, why did you bother to read?
People like you who resort to name-calling lack imagination and the brain cells to function beyond the autonomic nervous system.
So how much were you paid to write this story?
Dear anonymous,
You poor, poor dear.
You’re not used to journalists who are paid NOTHING to write what they believe should be written.
There are many of us out there, you know. But you must have dealt only with PAID HACKS.
Come out of your anonymous shell. Why are you so cowardly in asking me that question?
Raissa
And how much were you paid to troll? And how much was I paid to reply to your asinine shot? #partoftheproblem
I have been exposed to photographing personalities and because I shoot for them, I see to it that unflattering images do not come out.
To save me the trouble of deleting them I refrain from taking these pictures. I do not take thier pictures when they are eating or if I have to, I see to it that they are not in the process of putting food into their mouth.
Pres. Cory was, I remember peeved by this when her photo was taken in a boodle with the marines in Mindanao. I was there and when she requested not to take pictures, I respected it. That awful picture oF Mrs. Arroyo receiving communion is also a no, no. I take these kind of pictures just before they opened their mouth to receive the communion.
the LAZY BOY CHAIR at the left side of the desk makes the office so undignified. usually, lazy boy chairs are seen in entertainment rooms and slumber rooms of corporate offices. now, go figure…
Bakit ba ang Malacañang at mga opisina o ang mga halls nito ay lagi na lang mukhang madilim? That’s one thing I cannot stand looking at photos taken inside the palace.
I think some people’s comments on Pnoy looking “awkward” in the photo has nothing to do with other people’s calling him as “abnoy.” The word “awkward” is, obviously, subjective; the word “abnoy” for ‘abnormal’ is irrelevant to the photo. And the gay thingie is superfluous. Raisa, your readers are not idiots.
Dear Frolick,
The halls of Malacanang are very dark because Imelda Marcos and her favorite architect Jorge Ramos made it that way.
They bullet-proofed with tinted glass all the windows.
They tried to copy Versailles Philippine style.
I’m glad you thought the word ‘abnoy’ is irrelevant to the photo because that’s the word that was used by commentators to refer to PNoy in the photo.
As I said, I intentionally used another emotionally charged word – gay – to make a point. that calling PNoy ‘abnoy’ is the same as calling Gibo “gay”. both aren’t true and yet people persist in calling PNoy ‘abnoy’. And many of them belong to Gibo’s camp and the Lakas camp of Gloria Arroyo.
that’s all,
raissa
But Raisa, the word “gay” may not be a “label” [with all due respect to gay people out there] to many of us who are. Using the word “gay” to make an analogy [and just because Gibo's head is slightly tilted in the photo] for the purpose of making a point that Gibo is not one and Pnoy is not abnormal may be just too much. I perfectly understand your logic. Be just as there are people who make hasty generalizations based on a single photo, there are also people who can be senstive to such words that are prone to be misnomers.
We can counter Pnoy’s critics and their label of the president as “abnoy” by showing through writing that he is not [or how he is not] rather than saying Gibo is not gay and could not possible be just because his head is slightly tilted in the photo. Now can we not, Raisa? Also, I do understand that most of these people calling our president as “abnoy” are coming from Gibo or GMA’s camp. But, do we need to resort to their own tactics in our writing?
You know, as a journalist and a writer, I did not just want to say it. I wanted the reader to EXPERIENCE it. As you are experiencing it. For which reason you are uncomfortable with it.
Remember, this website is not a newspaper. Nor is this entry a news article.
There are many different kinds of writing, besides that of a news article.
I am merely using a method used in narrative fiction to bring a point across.
gay is not an emotionally-charged word, stupid. contrary to commoners like you who thinks that way. it is a POLITICALLY-CHARGED word. WORD..break it down..
Ho-hum. Name-calling again.
Try again.
I remember seeing former Justice Secretary Gonzales’ desk in a news interview a few years back. It was stacked with folders enough to cover the person sitting behind the desk. The impression I got was ‘Why is this person going around doing television interviews when he should have been working?!?’.
I like a nice orderly uncluttered desk, but having said that, I do think our president is just a figurehead and doesn’t do any work in the palace. I hope the people around the president do a better job about releasing unflattering photos. I agree with you Raissa that this Office is too tacky for a President of the Republic.
Dear Vince,
I’m curious to know how you arrived at th conclusion that the president does not do any work and is just a figurehead.
Do share,
Raissa
Well, I’m pretty sure you actually know more than me.
*wink, wink*
Who’s to say whether the desk of the person holding the nation’s highest office should be sparse or overflowing? Surely our President is entitled to a personal working environment or how his desk should look for that matter. I’ve seen the desks of CEOs, Presidents and executives of large companies both in the Philippines and abroad. How their desks look is purely a matter of personal preference and working style. How they got to their positions and whether they were lazy or not is a totally different matter. As for organization… that’s what executive assistants or secretaries are for. Important National and International issues arrive at this desk and where crucial decisions are made. Filing should be the last thing our President should be worried about.
On the other hand, using the words ‘Gay’ (for homosexual) and ‘abno’ (for abnormal) to describe a person or an act is ignorant and unacceptable. Whatever the purpose (eg. driving a point or being descriptive), these words are discriminatory slurs, hurtful and vicious (not unlike the word ‘retard’ or ‘niger’ for example which are no longer used here in the United States by any decent human being unless they want to be branded as bigots of the lowest caliber). There is simply no excuse for it.
Dear Cristina,
PNoy is routinely called “abnoy” by his critics – a label which is not true.
Calling him “abnoy” is equivalent to calling his cousin Gibo “gay” – again a label which is not true. Do you get the point?
Raissa
so the POINT is PNOY’s ash tray and cigarettes on PNoy’s desk showed he was violating the new No Smoking Law. And his nearly empty desk was proof of a do-nothing presidency.
and comparing the empty desk to US President Barack Obama.
but whats the point of putting images of
PGMA (saying not photogenic) and
GIBO (look gay in the photo)
in this blog, it doesn’t make any connection sense.
or are your point is to vilify their photos??
what a POOR MIND!!!
MY point is, critics are judging the President based on an ugly photo of his. To bring this home to the reader, I took similar ugly and awkward photos of other politicians whom the critics seem to admire.
Dapat ba talagang picture ni gloria at gibo ang gamitin para bigyang katwiran kung ano man ang nasasabi ng taongbayan tungkol sa isang larawan ng presidente? Ano bang mali sa larawan ni Gloria? Siguro mas nakakahiya kung nahulog ang isinusubo ng pari dahil sa iksi ng dila ni gloria hehehe at yung kay Gibo naman, alam naman natin kung gaano sya kalalim na tao, di naman sya tulad ng iba na nakangiti pa sa gitna ng mga krisis na kinakaharap ng bansa. Alam ko kasagsagan yan ng Ondoy kaya bakas na bakas sa kanya ang pag-alala.
Di ko alam kung bakit ang tingin ng nagsulat ay bading ang dating ni Gibo hehehe
Sa akin lang, isang bahagi lang ang mga larawan para patunayan o pasubalian ang paratang sa pagkatao ng isang tao. Tulad kay PNOY, sinasabi nilang LAZY daw ito bakit di natin tanungin kung totoo nga ba ito?
Di naman siguro sapat na marami tayong nakikitang mga tambak ng mga papeles sa mesa nya para masabi nga nating masipag sya di ba? Ano nga ba ang nakikita ng tao sa kanya? Yung work ethics nya, yung mga priorities nya? saan bang mga okasyon natin sya madalas makita? ano ba ang mga pahayag nya sa tuwing may kinakaharap tayong krisis?
By the way, natanong na ba natin kung nasaan sya sa mga panahon na kailangan sya ng bansa? Di ba marami namang pwede tayong pagbasehan ng masasabi natin sa isang tao maliban lang sa isang larawan?
Tulad sa ashtray sa larawan, kapag sa susunod na kuha ni pnoy ay wala ito, masasabi ba nating di sya chain smoker?
Dear Whon,
Ginamit ko yung mga litrato ni GMA at Gibo para patunayan na hindi natin dapat husgahan ang isang tao dahil sa pangit ang kuha nila sa litrato.
Yun lang,
Raissa
I’m concerned ‘gay’ is rather used negatively here.
Dear Rob,
I assure you, I’m not using the word ‘gay’ negatively.
What people are doing is reacting negatively to the thought that I used the word ‘gay’ together with the word ‘Gilbert Teodoro’. I was trying to approximate the same intensity of feeling that one would elicit from those who resent PNoy being called ‘abnoy’.
Seriously, if you look at gays, many of them (who believe they are the female in a relationship) tend to incline their head in that manner.
That’s all.
Raissa
DON’T RATIONALIZE IT. OR OVERTHINK IT. Fact is, you made a mistake in posting that. Move on and do not cover it up by being defensive. Posting those Gloria and Gibo pics has nothing to do with your topic about that lousy photo of Abnoy. As simple as that. You have so many agendas.
See?
Abnoy again.
You must be a Gibo and Gloria fan.
Interesting comparison with Obama except that Obama is doing something in these pics. Unlike NA who appears to be just…sitting there.
As for the comparison with Gilbert Teodoro, even with the slanted angle, he still looks like a normal person. Your description referring to his sexuality is a personal attack and has absolutely nothing to do with the premises of an empty desk perhaps being indicative of a nobody home president.
Dear Kris,
It’s not a personal attack on Gibo. I was driving home a point.
Who in his right mind would think Teodoro was gay, in the first place? Do you?
Ah, I brought in Obama to show the empty desk. In the case of PNoy, if you look closely, he seems to be talking to someone in the direction of the camera. He’s not just ….sitting there.
But thanks for reading.
Raissa
though i’m not satisfied with the administration’s performance, I still believe an empty table does not connote laziness
as regards the cigarette pack and ash tray, it was stated that picture was taken when there was still no ban in smoking… how about taking another candid shot at this point in time to show if he is still smoking in public office? in the spirit of fairness
I’m not a fan of President Aquino but having a cluttered desk doesn’t mean you’re working hard – it just means you’re not organized. Nuff said.
jesus christ. it is a better office compared to what GMA or Ferdinand Marcos had. So what if he smokes. Does he ask the public to smoke. He was a smoker long before he left college or when he entered college.
Can you equate honesty with the kind of corrupt and misleading leadership of previous adminstration.
best
odeus
do you even know what you’re saying??? GMA’s and FM’s were very stately, this is tacky! Obviously, you’re no renaissance man (or woman), ignorant of what truly constitutes taste and class.
Hmmm. What’s your basis for saying I’m no renaissance person, ignorant of what truly constitutes taste and class?
Maybe because I find Malacanang Palace, especially Heroes’ Hall so tacky the way Imelda Macos placed all that wooden borloloy?
Maybe because I find Imelda’s Palace bedroom, patterned after Marie Antoinette’s bedroom in Versailles quite tacky?
i hope PeeNoy’s honesty and convicting GMA for whatever charges translates to economic prosperity. but im sure it doesn’t. FACTS: 1) majority of the pinoys remains poor. 2) pinoys continue to seek work abroad. 3) OFW still prefers being an OFW as the pinas continues getting worse of everything. 4) bulok pa rin ang napapanood sa TV which equates patuloy pa rin tayo magiging bulok. 5) tanga pa rin ang mga pinoy – ino-oto pa rin ng media/newscaster/artista 6) i can go on till forever..
There is always a yawning gap between something “spoken” and “shown”. In between, I think the president is lost. He often quipped about governing through the straight and narrow path, probably a well-intentioned desire to be a paragon of servant leadership, but such pronouncement is simply hollow if ranged against reality. He has sworn to uphold the law and lead a modest life when he took oath as president. That was what he said – and believed he will do as Chief Executive- but the sad truths are, as reflected in his office , he smokes flagrantly in violation of the Anti-Smoking Law he is sworn to enforce, rides a flashy Porsche he is not supposed to buy, tolerates controversial buddies he is expected to fire, reduces budget to education that cries out for attention, and favors political allies whose legal entanglements are supposed to be left alone to another co-equal branch: the Judiciary. Before assuming the presidency, many believed he represents change. Today, after a year in power, more than a majority think otherwise…
You are too judgmental and easy to condemn, of course Pnoy is not perfect and will indeed have shortcomings but he is honest and incorruptible unlike your GMA who portrayed a very hardworking demeanor but is one of the biggest thief and cheat we ever had! For your information President Aquino still enjoys a very high approval rating so please make your opinion and information right otherwise you will be lying!
HAHAHA! incorruptible?! are you sure? do you know him personally? what made you say his incorruptible? because the media said so? would you rather have “honest” incompetent president than a very competent “thieve” as a president? do you know where are the pinas economy is heading now? because of his INCOMPETENCE. and what about the 1 Trillion 2012 pork barrel budget? are you not bothered with it? while GMAs average annual PB is only around 55Billion +/-.
why am i not surprise.. a “professional” college grad white collar pero oto-oto. na-ooto ng artistang halos di makapagtapos ng high school. na-ooto ng newscaster dahil sa magandang boses at “charisma”, na-ooto ni kris aquino na virginal sya kahit tinuhog ni philip, joey, james and devil knows who. oto-oto ni boy abunda. hanggang kelan pa kaya magiging oto-oto ang mga pinoy?
Haba ng dila ni GMA.
i am not a very busy guy but my desk is a clutter of files and what have you. i try to clean every monday but by friday it is back to the messy look. i can’t believe that he has nothing to do. i remember a picture of FVR when he was president. his table was orderly but full of folders.
Unfortunately, I could not find any photo of FVR’s desk
slow news day na naman ba? leave him be.
No, Choyr.
As I said, because of the photo, he is becoming an object of fun and he is being denigrated. All because of a lousy photo. And so I wanted to check out – are the opinions being generated by the photo justified? That he is a do-nothing president?
the photo may not be indicative of him being a do-nothing president, but his schedule (or lack off- as shown in a newsbreak article) shows that he is.
my friend works at the Philippine consulate in New York, and during Noy’s first visit, they were told that schedules/meetings should start the day after his arrival (which was at 2pm)…because Noy said he might be jet lag.
he also said that no meetings after 7. i hate GMA with a passion, and she’s probably the only person i would want to see get run over by a truck, but, the same Consul told me that GMA worked at the day she arrived, and when her meetings couldn’t accommodate schedules, she told them to turn her meal time into meetings.
i remember i brought this up with Manolo over twitter last year. he was gracious enough to reply, but evaded answering the core of my insinuation (that P’noy was lazy) and simply said that at least he’s not corrupt.
I’m preparing something on this, berntench.
Pls. wait for it.
I’D RATHER HAVE AN AVERAGE BUT HONEST AND AN INCORRUPTIBLE PRESIDENT THAN A HARDWORKING ONE LIKE GMA BUT SO CORRUPT!!
Who can’t be busy if you have two jobs to do like Gloria when she was president. She acted like a president even if she was fake and she doubles as a plunderer and a cheat in between!
discreet, peenoy is not average he is incompetent. naah id rather chose a “thief” who can actually run a country. she’s not prove guilty yet. rice shortage that happened during GMAs time pinoys blame it to mike, what about the shortage now? your so called president is currently prioritizing and in full time trying to convict GMA instead of running the country properly – which is the latter is supposedly his main job.
Hi Raissa,
Interesting comparison of the office of Aquino and Obama. I myself do not like a cluttered desk top. Remember the desk of that former Justice Sec. Gonzales that had mountainous piles of papers? That was not impressive to me because it showed the old man was a slacker for the many cases that is piling up on his desk. One thing that is absent in Aquino’s desk is a landline, never mind the must-have computer, which Obama has. Aquino keeps complaining that his message is not being communicated but the lack of telephone line on his desk shows he does not want to communicate. The picture of Obama on the phone gives a clear impression that he is working and communicating.
I do not find the image of Gibo gayish nor unflattering. That photo cannot compare to the compromising photo that Aquino has.
My other comments are already in your FB wall.
Best,
Luwi
ano ba yan..lahat na lng nakikita sa presidente..leave the man alone and let him do his duties..mga wlang ka kwentang kwentang bagay, pinag aaksayahan ng panahon..kung yung mga coments nyo, eh sinalin nyo sa gawa, at tumulong sa mga kapwa pilipino na nag hihirap, eh d mas maganda, mas makakatulong pa sa gobyerno..yan hirap satin eh, lagi nakikita ang dumi ng iba..hayz, kaya pilipinas wlang asenso hmp!
well, no amount of analysis would explain how bad the photo of PNOY is. If you would compare the above photo of GIBO and PNOY, the former is in the office supposedly not candid while that of GIBO was a photo taken while being interviewed in NDCC office…
I think the awful photo of PNoy was not posed. He was snapped at a bad angle. Notice he seems to be straining.
i could just imagine the stench in that enclosed/airconditioned room. kadiri!
You will never be invited to a meeting with President Pnoy in that room anyway so what’s the problem.
What do you expect from a do nothing president?
Anong akala mo sa sarili mo Mr. Campos para bastusin si Pres. Aquino ng ganyan eh ikaw may nagawa ka na bang matino sa tanang buhay mo. Sigurado ako GMA fan ka kaya ganyan ang banat mo. Ang mga tulad mo ang dahilan kung bakit napakacorrupt ng bansa natin kasi marami pa rin ang bulag, pipi at bingi na katulad mo kaya ang mga lider natin ay ang lakas ng loob magnakaw!
NAKAKAHIYA KA CAMPOS DAPAT SAYO IDEPORT SA CHINA PARA MABITAY KA DOON!