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?)