Noynoy: Out to please

President-apparent Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is obviously out to please those people who campaigned for him. As my sister puts it, it’s “payback” time!

Reports have been surfacing that he’s offering government positions to Boy Abunda, Lily Monteverde (Mother Lily to the local entertainment world), Mary Grace Poe (daughter of late Fernando Poe, Jr.), Dingdong Dantes, and Ogie Alcasid.

I know most people would say there is nothing wrong with Noynoy offering the aforementioned people government posts. But when you step back and really think about it, you begin to question the qualifications of these individuals. Are they really qualified for the job or are they just being given a job to please them/to say thanks for the help? Is Boy Abunda qualified to become the Secretary of Tourism? He is a talent manager and a showbiz talk show host. He is also well-known for being Kris Aquino-Yap‘s (Noynoy’s youngest sister) best friend. Wouldn’t he be more qualified for a PR job rather than the Tourism post? Mother Lily Monteverde is a movie producer. She is supposedly being offered to chair the Optical Media Board (OMB) whose function is to stop piracy in the country. If a place needs to be raided, can she tag along with the OMB team? We’ve seen violent raids done in the past. Is she really the one for the post? Or is someone tougher and well-versed with piracy more suited for the position? The same question comes to mind with Mary Grace Poe, Dingdong Dantes and Ogie Alcasid.

There is nothing wrong with Noynoy surrounding himself with those he deems trustworthy and loyal to him. I can understand as much. But to offer government posts to those people with whom he has an “utang na loob” is another matter. We might be seeing government people who are unfit for the job but since they are loyal to the newly elected president, they are given important posts. Do we really need another 6 years of this?

We all want change. That’s what we’ve been asking for. But if the President-apparent Noynoy Aquino will start handing out government seats to friends and those with whom he is indebted to (for campaigning him), I don’t think change will happen anytime soon.