DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
Seizing the day
Sunday, 09 06, 2009
The Roman poet-satirist and literary critic Horace in his "Odes," said it first: "Carpe diem!" meaning, seize the day. And down the ages, the exhortation has been repeated, to urge someone to make the most out of the present. Seizing the day is about deciding, by taking advantage of the circumstances prevailing.
Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino has been seizing each day since Aug. 1. At the wake of his mother, he showed extraordinary calm and admirable grace, even when he, instead of offering a cold shoulder or an icy silence, made perceived political adversaries, the President and the Marcos children among them, feel that their presence was welcome. That gesture alone perhaps endeared him to the rest of the nation.
Noynoy could have said a mouthful during the wake and at the interment services, and the public would not have minded. But he remained the most taciturn Aquino all throughout, even when the outcry for him to take up the mantle left by his martyred father and sainted mother was already rising to a fevered pitch. Perhaps if there ever was a hint for the public to guess where Noynoy’s thoughts for the future lay, it had to come from his sister Kris. At the interment services, Kris said that she and Noynoy were both in a position to continue the public service and advocacies of their deceased parents, and that she would support Noynoy in his future political endeavors. It was virtually saying that the future is now.
Noynoy remained tight-lipped. It had to take the determined efforts of partymates and well-meaning opinion writers to confront Manuel "Mar" Roxas about the inevitable: The clamor for Noynoy to run was snowballing, the surge was relentless, and Mar must now give way.
Mar’s candidacy was not progressing at the pace everyone expected it to. Despite five years of hard work and the resources thrown into his campaign, Mar could not simply put a headlock on his party’s anointment. He was languishing in the surveys, and had dropped to fifth in a field of eight two days before he and Noynoy had arrived at a solution to the dilemma confronting the Liberal Party (LP). Mar just could not get everyone to his side: Lito Atienza and his group was a thorn; Kiko Pangilinan, another partymate, could barely hide his condescension of Mar and his preference for Noynoy.
On the other hand, it would be naïve for someone to think that Noynoy didn’t see it coming, meaning the withdrawal of Mar in his favor. He just didn’t crow about it. The million signatures urging him to run had been collected in record time. Every pundit worth his fearless forecast was urging Noynoy to grab the opportunity. Many politicians of circumstance, quick to seize on a winner when they see one, were trooping to Times Street to convince Noynoy to saddle up and get on his high, dark horse. Another political party even went to the extent of offering its reformist organization to Noynoy just in case the LP turns a deaf ear to destiny’s call for Noynoy. It was 1986 all over again, and the country was in the grip of the "yellow fever."
The taciturn Noynoy must have calculated his moves — a masterful stroke, if you ask me --- right down to the day he heeded, albeit hesitantly, destiny’s call. He did not wait out the 40-day period of mourning. Another 10 days would have tilted the equation in favor of Mar. An indecision on his part would have exposed a weakness that would not sit well with those looking for a decisive leader.
Noynoy is now reaping it all without lifting a finger, without saying a word of encouragement for those who want him to run. Everyone wants to give way to him. Governors Panlilio and Padaca have no qualms about yielding to Noynoy; the reformists are very clear as to who their choice is. Atienza said as much: he is ready to bring over a big faction in the LP to support Noynoy. Pangilinan said the same thing.
Noynoy the undeclared candidate is getting endorsements from all over. Everyone else has said Noynoy could be the unifying factor for the opposition. Former President Joseph Estrada had this to say: "I have always held the highest regard and admiration for Noynoy’s parents, the late Senator Ninoy and President Cory, and believe that Noynoy is most qualified to seek the presidency." Jojo Binay agrees. And despite his mother’s dream for him to become president too, Bongbong Marcos is endorsing Noynoy.
Noynoy is presently on a spiritual retreat, to give a very serious focus to the future, to fortify his political stock, and to listen — not talk with, as you-know-who does in crucial moments — to God. He has not appeared atat na atat, has not rushed headlong into declaring his acceptance of the challenge to lead, but is, instead, treading the deliberate and enlightened path. This is the brand of leadership that he could very well bring to the country: spiritually moored, carefully deliberate and rationally enlightened.
Noynoy knows very well that the nation is desperate for a rallying point for recovery from the morass we are in. He will seize the day, by formally accepting the draft after the mourning period for Cory.
And all Kris has to do is to mount the stage and drape the country anew with yellow. Any further taunts of Malacañang that Noynoy prove that he is his own man is to invite boredom and a sense of déjà vu.
q q q
The nation will not forget what Mar did to pave the way for Noynoy’s candidacy. He, too, seized day when he put on the mantle of decency with his selfless act of statesmanship, his call for "Country Above Self." For sure, Mar will be rewarded in 2013. And that augurs well for the LP: Imagine a 12-year reign for the party.
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