FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


MUCH NOBLER THAN FOLLOWING TRAFFIC LIGHTS



Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino captured the imagination of the poor Filipino masses as their “knight in shining armor” and agreed to hoist him from his boring Senate seat as their leader. According to generally accepted estimates, about 80% of the total Philippine population belong to the impoverished segment. So after the smoke cleared out from the recent May 10 presidential elections, Noynoy, the only son of the popular former president Cory and the assassinated anti-Marcos freedom fighter, Ninoy, won the biggest margin of victory in the history of Philippine elections mainly because of the poor.


Noynoy’s election victory fever got hotter with the masses when he refused to use the siren in driving through traffic like any other Pinoy commuter.

Like any other story, there is always the sunny side and the cloudy one.

What has the potential to prolong the cloudy side in the early days of the popular Aquino presidency is the case of the Hacienda Luisita, a 6,435 hectare plantation estate owned by the Cojuangco Family that is even much larger than Makati and Pasig combined.

The story of this Hacienda already has a tragic episode: several poor farmers died of gunshots while airing their grievances during protest demonstrations. And now the farmers are still complaining of unfulfilled promises from the hacienda owners such as their right to own the small farms they till in compliance with the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program initiated by former president Cory, Noynoy’s mother.

Noynoy Aquino indeed however has the potential to become a great Filipino president and leader. Here’s the right time at the right place to do it by just following the law - the Agrarian Reform law.

Isn’t this much nobler than following the traffic lights of MetroManila?

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