The Unmindful
A President Apparent
I find the president apparent a bit irritating. For one, he used to flip flop on various issues in a not so subtle manner. Once, he promised not to increase the taxes only to say later on that he will instruct the taxation unit of the government to be more efficient in collecting taxes before increasing taxes. In yet another instance, he said that he would just take his oath in front of a barangay captain, only to take that back and say that he would just take his oath of office in the presence of one of the senior justices of the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, his lack of tact and wit, and his changing of stands on issues is just among those that made me dislike him. What made me dislike him more are his recent actions and decisions. Among them are his choice of residence and his smoking habit.
On His Choice of Residence
I do not presume to know what he has in mind, but his decision-making process in choosing his residence seemed to be poor. I fear that his decision not to live in Malacañan Palace had been tainted with the intention of making people feel that he is indeed Cory's son--a good political tool. Nevertheless, he did not consider the hassle that would be caused by his travel from his house to the Palace and back to the residents of the places he will be passing by. Moreover, he did not even consider the fact that his security detail will find it very difficult to protect him.
On Smoking
Frankly, I do not ifnd anything wrong with him smoking. What I do find wrong is the publicity this is getting. In the first place, if a future president refuses to cooperate in a cigarette awareness campaign, he need not tell media that he will smoke even on the day when no smoking advocates around the world are conducting an important advocacy. His act and his statement of not wanting to be a poster boy for such an advocacy undoes the actions done by these advocates in telling others, especially children, not to smoke.
Personally, I believe that our civil leaders should act as good role models. If they cannot, at least do not act like a devil, encouraging others to smoke or do something bad. Hopefully, he stops this habit of his.
