<![CDATA[ - Noynoy Watch]]>

<![CDATA[ - Noynoy Watch]]>Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:18:28 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Noynoy Admits To Poor Output With Tourism Slogan]]>Tue, 23 Nov 2010 06:52:07 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/11/noynoy-admits-poor-output-with-tourism-slogan.html

THE PLAGIARIZED LOGO

POLAND'S ORIGINAL LOGO

After illiciting laughter from other World leaders at the 18th APEC Summit for questioning the recent travel advisories of progressive countries like Japan and New Zealand, President Noynoy embarked on having the Philippines' current tourism slogan Wow Philippines changed to Pilipinas Kay Ganda!

It was even reported by the Daily Tribune that Noynoy had a hand at the inclusion of the tarsier and the coconut tree that illustrates the slogan via a tourism logo. The logo, according to many critics, was probably even plagiarized from the tourism logo of Poland (see here for comparison).

The logo brouhaha was nothing compared to the fiery distaste of the majority of the Filipino thinkers who opined the following about the poorly made slogan:
1) Tour Guide and Cultural Activist Carlos Celdran - Mabuhay could have been better.
2) Senator Mirriam Santiago - If some of the non-Tagalog speaking Filipinos cannot even understand the slogan, what more the foreigners who are the target market of the slogan.
3) The Philippine Guild - Pilipinas is not the Philippines when written down or spoken. That difference alone translates to a confusing transaction. And I agree with Carlos Celdran. Mabuhay could have been better.

President Noynoy's appointed Tourism secretary Alberto Lim offered a question to the press and media during the launch of Pilipinas Kay Ganda that “at a time when every nation, big or small, is either creating a new brand or repacking their current ones, would you rather rehash an 8 year old brand?" He even went on to say, "Besides, a new brand always generates a buzz that translate to more media mileage for the same promotional budget."

Critics are now thinking that if Noynoy and Alberto Lim's reasoning that Pilipinas Kay Ganda's generated buzz was helpful to creating a good image for the tourism of the Philippines, then the buzz was probably for the Aquino government to come up with better output instead of a poorly made one. Noynoy admitted to this recently when he had the slogan and logo removed from the DOT (Department of Tourism) website.

]]><![CDATA[Noynoy Learns Lesson, Drops Mislang From Japan Trip]]>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:22:20 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/11/noynoy-learns-lesson-drops-mislang-from-japan-trip.html

TWEET GRAB COURTESY OF GMANEWS.TV

President Noynoy finally learns his lesson well for choosing his aides poorly. After being pressured by concerned citizens online, Noynoy is no longer considering taking his speechwriter Carmen Mislang to his Japan trip for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting next week. Since his Communications Group has not supplied the media yet with information about official members of the entourage to Yokohama, all Ricky Carandang (Carmen Mislang's immediate superior) could tell everyone was that "it's possible" for the president not to have Mislang in the official list of entourage members. However, it seems that Noynoy was sourgraping when he still found the time to Tweet about Filipinos who put him in his place regarding the Mislang issue. As featured in GMANews.tv, he tweeted that he would rather help the government than be a fault-finder.

This online post, of course, can also be interpreted as President Noynoy's delayed reprimand to Carmen Mislang who did a lot of fault-finding during her trip with him in Vietnam:
Fault #1 = the bad taste that the wine left in her mouth
Fault #2 = the state of pedestrians in the streets of Hanoi
Fault #3 = the ugly and average looking guys of Vietnam

President Noynoy's upcoming Japan trip this November is his 3rd travel abroad in 5 months after being proclaimed president. This is after he swore during the presidential campaign period this year that he does not like traveling abroad and would rather send envoys to do decision-making dealings with other countries' leaders. He previously went to the USA and Vietnam (only last month).

]]><![CDATA[President Noynoy Defends Mislang's Vietnam Tweet]]>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:46:14 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/11/president-noynoy-defends-mislangs-vietnam-tweet.html

SEEING VAGUELY

Malaya.com reports that President Noynoy doesn't see anything wrong with a member of his ASEAN summit entourage's recent Tweeter messages: 1) that the wine being served to the Philippine entourage in Vietnam sucks (when the wine is actually from Chile); 2) that if one wanted to die, crossing the streets of Hanoi was the easy way to do it; 3) that there was no good-looking guys in the Vietnam capital.

Below is an image of the bond between Carmen Mislang and Noynoy.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GETREALPHILIPPINES

President Noynoy thinks that the issue is overblown. He goes on to contend that Assistant Secretary Carmen Mislang, a speechwriter of his, did not even mention Vietnam in her tweets. However, Carmen herself tagged her tweets Vietnam which made the dissemination of her criticisms available under that category even before the various reputable news agencies could even allegedly overblow it. Worse, the Philippine president even opines that it's just a personal message of one of his summit entourage and she's intended to be visible for being his speechwriter only.

As much as it's true that the official designation of Mislang is being a speechwriter, her so-called personal messages on Tweeter were based on an official function that is representative of the whole Philippines. This has made the opinion of President Noynoy annoying:

"She is not in the front portion of the operations. She is a writer. Hindi naman siya nakikita," Aquino said.

President Noynoy is a believer in the scoial networking mechanism which makes his recent statements to Carmen's defense annoying. He had an official Facebook account where Filipinos could send him questions and suggestions. His administration also has an official tweeter account (@govph).

What experts see here is another failure in management on the part of the president for showing a poor track record in protocol adherence. In retrospect, Aquino even bragged during the presidential campaign period that he would just send envoys abroad if there were travel opportunities to represent the Philippines. See the post about it here.

Just a few months ago, President Noynoy was called on by political experts for insulting Japan about his statement on international aid. A month after, he successfully earned the ire of Hong Kong leaders and citizens when he mismanaged the hostage-taking crisis. Now, his statements to Carmen Mislang's defense is another hoopla showing his poor diplomatic skills.

The Philippine Guild is not advocating for the president to remove Mislang from the cabinet. Aquino hired her so he needs to bear the quality of performance that his team members have.

Everyone's wondering now where President Noynoy is taking Carmen Mislang next to make another review of the host country's gifts and mementos.

]]><![CDATA[Dinky Soliman's DSWD Fund: 123 Percent Increase]]>Sun, 31 Oct 2010 07:04:49 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/10/dinky-solimans-dswd-fund-123-percent-increase.html

BUDGET: NA-123 PERCENT?

By 2011, the government budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman is officially the second biggest slice of the budgetary pie. President Noynoy's administration has proposed this 123-percent increase in the department's budget to Congress. This outrageous fund increase is something that the media, the press and the other politicians are questioning. The capital outlays that President Noynoy's administration has approved for Dinky's department is P353.7 million.

President Noynoy and Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad were all over the newspapers recently saying that they had to cut down on the other department's budget as part of their efforts to deflate the ballooning fiscal deficit.

For that matter, some economic experts are not even buying the efforts that the Palace has been doing.

The Aquino government's critics are questioning the 123 percent increase of Dinky's fund allocation because they reckoned that it caused the other departments' budget to suffer major cuts. Some even opine that the budget approval is a favor of President Noynoy to Dinky for the support that the latter has given him during the campaign. The favor not being the actual fund, but the fund being a stepping stone for Dinky to earn popularity nods from the Filipino masses as a preparation for a seat at the Senate in the near future.

]]><![CDATA[The Case of The Philippine National Anthem]]>Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:40:09 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/10/the-case-of-the-philippine-national-anthem.html

Filipino artists, be informed: the improper singing of the national anthem ‘Lupang Hinirang’ and disrespect to other national symbols are now deemed to be criminal acts. The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading the bill making the acts a crime.

According to GMA-7, the bill will now be forwarded to the Senate for its consideration. The Senate can file a similar bill or adopt the House-approved bill. Once the Senate approves its version of the bill, a bicameral conference committee will be called to reconcile the differences in the bills of the two chambers. The reconciled bill will then be approved by the Senate and House and sent to the President for signature.

All of the 196 members present during the session voted in favor of House Bill 465 or "An Act Prescribing the Code of the National Flag, Anthem, Motto, Coat-of-Arms and other Heraldic Items and Devices of the Philippines." It also seeks to protect the Philippine flag and other heraldic items of the country.

]]><![CDATA[Manila Mis-Labelled Coffins of Hostage-taking Dead]]>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:12:26 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/09/manila-mis-labelled-coffins-of-hostage-taking-dead.html

PHOTO BY AFP

In Manila, three of the coffins of the hostage-taking dead were wrongly labelled according to a government spokesman who informed AFP. The bodies were at the mortuary in Hong Kong when the error was discovered.

The error was discovered after the family of one victim went to a Hong Kong mortuary to identify their dead relative only to find the coffin contained the body of another victim of last week's hijacking.

Mourning for them here in Manila is one thing to appease the victims' loved ones. Maintaining a standard operation procedure until the bodies of the dead reach Hong Kong is another.

Wreaths were laid by a senior Hong Kong official and weeping relatives on the mislabelled coffins at an airport ceremony in Hong Kong seven days ago.

]]><![CDATA[5 Things About The Quirino Grandstand Massacre]]>Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:44:26 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/08/5-things-about-the-quirino-grandstand-massacre.html

REALITY IS THE PHOTO OP ALSO HAPPENED

The five things that earned the Philippines a bad image this month due to the Mendoza hostage-taking crisis of Hong Kong and Canada-based tourists are still raging online:

1) The poor tactical approach of the authorities
- Need we say more?

2) The passive attitude of the Aquino office during the crisis
- Not initiating to call the Hong Kong office and not accepting its call

3) The mob mentality that operates in Philippine journalism
- The live coverage of the Mendoza sibling's arrest inciting the hostage-taker to commit mayhem (the live feed was even on inset the whole time another news was being aired), plus the glaring light that the media installed at the site giving away the positions of the authorities

4) The smiling faces of Filipino students and authorities taking turns for a photo op at the Quirino Grandstand massacre site
- The protocol of securing the area -- critical points, visibility, etc.

5) President Noynoy Aquino's disappointing press con:
a) the delayed schedule b) his smile that irritated foreigners and locals alike c)and his remark that his smile was "an expression of exasperation more than anything."

The image of the Philippines is directly related to our tourism here and labor abroad. Both matters are, therefore, related to tourists based abroad and laborers who are locals. Should we ever want to consider the future, it is safe to note then that our country's image is essential to nation-building.

Most managers will point out that one's image needs to be supported by functioning qualities. Otherwise, the image is false.

The case of the Quirino Grandstand Massacre clearly shows that five factors figured in the ugly image that the Philippines currently has in world affairs. This is hard to deny because the image is not false.

The Filipino people can't be told to stop the critical reviews of what happened because the people at the helm and the so-called subordinates both took part in representing the rest of the nation in the news that build our image -- the true and present state of Filipino mentality. Look at the pictures that WE TOOK. Watch the videos that WE SHOT. Then mull over the change that WE WANT.

We all recently proved to the world that this August, 2010, we used to walk the straight path.

]]><![CDATA[Teachers Angry Over Noynoy's Increase]]>Sun, 08 Aug 2010 14:58:03 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/08/teachers-angry-over-noynoys-increase.html

DELAYING TEACHERS' INCREASE

President Noynoy may have recently been transparent about his almost P30,000 salary increase as president especially since it was only a month when he started working, but the public school teachers are angry over the increase.

The teachers are citing the president's increase as unfair because their own salary increase was not released at the same time and is probably being delayed because they are mere teachers and not the president.

Budget Secretary Abad made the excuse that all the paper works are still being reviewed. He did not give a clear schedule when the teachers will receive the increase given that the next payday for the teachers will be on August 21.

It is understandable for the public school teachers to be fuming mad because the increase was announced as early as during the GMA administration through the former president's executive order 611.

Public school teachers across the country are now thinking that the "tuwid na daan" campaign promise of President Noynoy is just a path that the president will walk alone with them being left behind.

]]><![CDATA[Farmers Manipulated To Sign Hacienda Luisita Deal?]]>Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:34:18 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/08/farmers-manipulated-to-sign-hacienda-luisita-deal.html

THOUSANDS OF MIDNIGHTS AFTER, BOGUS DEAL IS INKED

The Supreme Court in 1985 upon the petition of the Marcos government would have given the Hacienda Luisita farmers their patch of land but the Cojuangcos thought of the Stock Distribution Option to escape the land distribution.

Three years after the Court of Appeals junked the case since the Cory Aquino government lawyers wanted the land distribution effort to happen under the Agrarian Reform Program of that regime.

What the Agrarian Reform Program dictated was the distribution of the land with the Cojuangcos getting the compensation from it. However, stalling the series of negotiations for decades, the Cojuangcos managed to flip the benefits process. With Noynoy's ascent to the presidency, the Cojuangcos still get the land and the farmers are manipulated into getting the compensation in staggered basis, instead.

The deal was inked at the time when the hacienda still employs a private army of 100 soldiers and armed militia men which reminds us all of the martial law landscape in the '70s. The deal was suspiciously reached at the time when the issue is set to be discussed at the Supreme Court after Chief Justice Corona (whom Noynoy finally recognized as chief justice after refusing to do so) asked for a fast-track review of the case.

It is also interesting to note that as early as last year but still under the GMA regime Noynoy declared to the media that the Hacienda Luisita issue would only be dealt with after the election which harks back to the strategy of how the Cojuangcos stalled land distribution in 1985 because it was under the Marcos regime.

Why was it even pushed back to this year instead of last year? Why let the series of midnights past to reach the point of giving what the farmers deserved a long time ago?

]]><![CDATA[3 Journalists Dead In One Month]]>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:59:31 -0800http://thephilguild.weebly.com/1/post/2010/08/3-journalists-dead-in-one-month.html

The latest journalist to die under the Aquino administration was Nueva Ecija publisher Edilberto Cruz. Police said that Cruz died of a gunshot wound in the head. Last month, Miguel Belen, 48, a radio station reporter, was ambushed in Camarines Sur. A week earlier, Jose Daguio, 72, a community newspaper reporter, was killed in Kalinga.

International groups have now ranked the Philippines under Aquino's regime among the high-risk countries for journalists.

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