PAGE TWELVE
By ELINANDO B. CINCO
Elinando B. Cinco
The change in her is markedly noticeable. Her TV audiences, as well as spectators in her various public rallies and campus convocations, were the first to notice it. And their verdict – she has now become an entirely new political figure.
A marked deviation from her personality as a neophyte congresswoman in 2013-- taciturn, unsure of herself, even shy, they voiced the opinion.
So, then what changes has the public noticed?
For one, she is now articulate, lucid, and astute. She chooses her words and phrases as if they come from the lexicon of a crack advertising copywriter.
And in live TV interviews, she is knowledgeable in matters that are political in nature, the intricacies of governance and inter-party squabbles and intrigue.
In a recent live TV one-on-three forum, many listeners noticed that she was quick to answer tricky questions, in the same manner when asked her opinion or stand even when the interviewer tried to lead her to an apparent embarrassing answer.
Never one to jeopardize either the advocates or opponents of ticklish environmental issues,she can argue in a tactful manner and manages to come up with logical answers.
The vice president demonstrated her public forum mettle in a live TV interview on TV5’s “Chiefs” on December 25. She went through the tough interrogations of the three hard-nose newsmen for two hours.
The network must have been swamped with callers asking for a re-broadcast. A gesture that the network’s management did by replaying the program on New Year’s Eve.
With this well-rounded transformation of her attributes and capability now reaching new highs in public opinion, the vice president becomes a stark contrast to what the President had branded her, as “incompetent” to succeed him as the leader of the land.
Curiously, on that tirade aired by a press statement released by Malacanang last year, I am reminded that countless of VP Leni’s admirers were quick to rebut to say that there are more incompetent officials that the Chief Executive appointed to high office in his administration, especially his Davao friends. And that is an open secret.
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TWO GOV’T AGENCIES ON THE SPOTLIGHT. The National Privacy Commission (NPC) and the Philippine Anti-Corruption Commission(PACC) have become subjects of public concern these days. Why?Simply because the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has scored the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) plan of secretly investigating some of the alliance’s officers (an act of “profiling”) over allegations of their fronting some leftist groups. And complained to the NPC for that inordinate intrusion in to their privacy.
“We’re not criminals or terrorists,” decried ACT. “A witch hunt,” said a daily in its editorial.
Next under public censure is the Philippine Anti-Corruption Commission for its alleged premature announcement, some say “leakage,” of a supposed to be on-going investigation of “three or four” Cabinet-level officials for graft.
“If reports are true, that government agency is careless and irresponsible for giving out the names of those officials to media, thus, exposing them prematurely in bad light,” voiced an irate AM radio listener.
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FARMERS, FISHERFOLK FAILED PROSPECTS OF D.A. A dismaying news item appeared last week on the front page of the business section of the Bulletin. Its headline said it all: “Agriculture sector falls short of all projections.” It only achieved a dismal 1 percent growth in 2018.A news item like this makes newspaper readers lose interest in proceeding to read the rest of the story.