The Philippine Online Chronicles

"There will be challenges ahead—from an uncertain outlook for the global economy, to a noisy minority who want to rekindle the malicious practices of the past. But if we work together, we will overcome the challenges and fulfill the promise of the year ahead.," President Aquino said during a vin d'honneur in Malacañang on Friday

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman , the minority leader in the House of Representatives, felt alluded to the president’s remark on the “noisy minority”. "The minority is articulate, not “noisy”. It is responsible and deliberate, and does not bask in the past”, stressed Lagman.

Defining “noisy minority”

The “noisy minority” does not refer to the Opposition alone.  Former Representative Ruffy Biazon clarifies that the President may have pertained to the  "noisy minority", not the "House Minority", "Senate Minority" or "Opposition". That would've been categorical.” The Aquino siblings called the Left “a noisy minority” which Ninoy Aquino would have never brushed aside.

What about the ordinary citizens who are articulate but just noisy especially in social media? Take for example, Blog Watch active Twitter user, ang_mungo who expresses his opinions on the President’s administration:

I disagree with raising fares for public mass transport.

I disagree with removing a bureaucrat because he doesn't agree with your bright boy.

I disagree with putting friendship over duty.

I disagree with declaring a person a tax evader BEFORE a case is filed against him.

I disagree that a President should respond to an international incident 11 days after it happened.

I disagree that the best way to cut the deficit is to cut the budget for tertiary education.

These are all valid observations, articulated by someone who has the opportunity to have a voice.  The majority are unable to channel their voice. The majority sometimes bring their concern to the outspoken minority. I cannot count the ways that I receive private messages or emails about certain issues that need to be addressed.

The real challenge

Eight months after the May 2010 elections  passed us by, yet the President talks like a candidate. Instead of winning the “noisy minority” over, he prefers to goad them.   Ang_mungo  is saddened with this latest swipe because he believes that the “atmosphere is currently divisive and yet you have a President who talks that way.” In my article, "Where is the roadmap for change, President Aquino?”, I stressed the importance of listening to the critics especially those that do not carry a political agenda. If he only listens to the "Yes Men" or the whispers of  the “silent majority”, he will not hear the voice of the people. I feel the President is too sensitive towards criticism. Is popularity getting into his head, just because a great majority of the people trust him and thus, he can do no wrong?

Instead of rambling vague statements like “noisy minority” and “malicious practices of the past”, what about  turning the focus on uniting and rebuilding this nation? True, political challenges exist.  He must  then foster open communication with political and ideological groups. The President needs to allow well-meaning members of the civil society, citizen watch dogs,  the academe, and people’s organizations to remain engaged in policy-making.  “If Aquino loses his grasp of the grassroots situation and only believes in what his close in associates report to him, the President will slowly lose an objective assessment of reality and will, like his predecessors, be totally isolated, thinking that he is doing a nice job when the opposite is being experienced by the people.”

Lagman notes that “it is the President who repeatedly harps on the perceived sins of the past in a vain effort to project himself as a different and model’ leader.

“When you're on the right path, there is no need to mind your critics, your noisy minority. Instead, proceed with magnanimity.”  I recall that Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo used to take the same swipe on the “noisy minority.”

Sure, Mr. President, noisy minority today, noisy majority tomorrow.

Photo from Vencer Crisostomo. Some Rights Reserved