So It Is

I've said it before: President Noynoy was not my guy, but now that he's there, I want nothing more than for him to succeed.

I watched the inauguration on television, hoping to see something new--something infinitely more somber and dignified. I didn't expect it to look like a television special with all the singing and dancing. So, on that score, I was very disappointed.

It has become norm to infuse every occasion with "entertainment", as if we couldn't bear to sit through anything that didn't involve a celebrity or two. From weddings, to birthdays and anniversaries, and now to the Presidential Inauguration, everything looks like a TV special (and I use the word very loosely). That says so much about our culture today. We have lost the ability to keep things simple, yet full of dignity and meaning.

I woke up to a youtube video of the street party, which presumably was planned to make President Aquino start his term as a true leader of the people, but again there were the hysterical hosts who were whining and screaming like teenagers, asking the President to sing. And then once more. That was a bit much. I want a leader who can say no to all the shallow nonsense. I won't even talk about the quality of singing.

You can be a leader of the people by raising us up to the standard we know can be ours. It doesn't serve us to see you take on the variety show mantle. That isn't the best we can be. We can be so much more. If you believe that, help take us there by putting your foot down. Show us something new. Help us to transform the showbiz consciousness of the people. We are so creative and we can solve all our problems, if only we could stop the showbiz nonsense and channel all that creative energy towards transforming our country. Show us the way.

I write this with all hope that President Noynoy Aquino will be the leader we deserve. I wish him the very best.

Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images