PNoy’s anti-wangwang crusade is a gotcha trap

More than a few of President Aquino’s guests were accustomed to the wangwang advantage. In a resplendent pink terno, a newly elected local official and guest at President Aquino’s inaugural reception on Wednesday evening waxed poetic about the moment, but when the subject of PNoy’s now-famous denunciation of officials’ use of “wangwang" (sirens) came up, her reaction was blunt. “Sometimes you can’t avoid it. What if you're getting death threats? Remember, my father was killed in office," she said, to the nods of other well-coiffed guests around her. President Aquino’s orated outrage at the sirens that part seas of traffic to speed government officials through was one of the most applauded lines in his well-received inaugural address. But the skepticism of some of those who would lose this convenience, including the chauffeured crowd that attended the new administration's first social event in Malacañang, is an early speed bump in PNoy’s effort to stamp a new style of governance on a country that has long suffered from an excess of privilege for the few. His trip through holiday streets last Wednesday enroute to Malacañang to fetch outgoing President Arroyo was a prelude to what he would later say in his populist address. As broadcast nationwide, his quiet convoy actually stopped at stoplights, unheard-of for a capital full of self-important officials, not to mention virtually any motorcycle cop. That set up his audience of millions for this robustly cheered lament in his address: “Kayo ba ay nagtiis sa trapiko para lamang masingitan ng isang naghahari-hariang de-wangwang sa kalsada? Ako rin." Then he promised, “Walang wang-wang, walang counterflow, walang tong. Panahon na upang tayo ay muling magkawang-gawa." With such a commonplace grievance conveyed in crisp Filipino, the speech connected to its sunburnt listeners spread out over the expanse fronting the grandstand. The son of heroes, he found common ground with ordinary citizens. But it also sent a message to those in designer clothes who shared the shaded grandstand and English as their lingua franca. If the substance of his administration will be “true and complete justice for all," the unpretentious style will be pure Noynoy, or at least that was what the speech promised. It’s not a style that was manufactured for the occasion. Anyone who has observed Noynoy through the years has known that he has simple tastes and a humble personality. Even his preferred “PNoy", or P.Noy or P-Noy, is so Pinoy, a far cry from GMA or FVR, which emulated the US tradition of shortening a powerful person’s name to three initials, a la FDR and JFK. It was only Erap who could compete in the jologs name department. But Erap would never have vowed to do away with siren abuse, although he did promise in his inaugural speech not to play favorites, then went out and immediately started to do just that. PNoy also exudes none of the vanity that his rivals for the presidency were known for. One can’t imagine him going through the rigors of a hair transplant or a measurement for a toupee. According to his ophthalmologist, he uses only one pair of glasses until it wears out. On the eve of his oath as president, he announced his Cabinet members while dressed in jeans and a modest black polo with a yellow ribbon patch. Nearly all of his appointees meanwhile were clad in barong Tagalog. That simple style also explains why he at first wanted to stay in the family home on Times Street, even if his ungated community would have posed a security nightmare. Even when his street began to draw drive-by usiseros, there was no evident build-up of security, no checkpoints. Rallyists could get as near as his driveway. A tall building nearby would have a clear view into the Aquino property for any ill-intentioned marksman. He wisely saw how impractical and even dangerous his beloved residence would be and agreed to move, but not even right away. Security issues will hinder other aspirations to a modest presidential lifestyle. As much as PNoy would like to stop at stoplights and not use his sirens to rush to his appointments, his spokesman has already told the media that his security team will often have the final say on the matter, and any responsible leader will have to listen. And when he does as he’s told, the skeptics will smirk and the critics will howl. With anyone with a cell phone now a potential member of the paparazzi, the presidential convoy will be the most recorded set of cars in the nation’s history. That first presidential siren aired on the news will be interpreted as a return to business as usual. Then those lines in his speech quoted above will be replayed over and over again on television. And the honeymoon with the media will be promptly over. But there is a way out of PNoy’s quandary: Be so effective in governance that traffic will move faster for everyone and public safety will vastly improve. With a president aspiring to use common public services like traffic control, perhaps public services will start to improve in general. Towards the end of his term, officials may no longer feel stoplights are ambush traps. Besides, the unlawful use of sirens would surely land them in jail. With the country safer and transportation more efficient, PNoy himself will be freer to pursue the simpler lifestyle that he craves, and humble anyone in government below his station into following suit. – Howie Severino, GMANews.TV