@jcmaningat alerted me to the tweet exchanges of Presidential spokeperson Edwin Lacierda and Abi Valte on the September 19 transport strike . “If the tweets Edwin Lacierda (@dawende) and Abigail Valte (@abi_valte) would be an indication, this government is getting more arrogant by the day. Not to mention that it is turning to Twitterverse to vent its cheap shots.” Let us examine some tweets:

From @dawende

Noticed how leftists are so onion-skinned? Tinawag lang perjuicio ang strike, pumputok ang butchi nila! Mahilig bumanat pero mga pikon pala!

And from @abi_valte

Number of people affected by strike: 16 RT @nerveending: uy, naapektuhan din ako; hirap pumasok kanina. Traffic sa Cubao.
Abi_Valte
September 19, 2011
“
Number of people who tweeted me about: 1)removing VAT on oil; 2)repealing Oil Dereg Law; 3)complaints about gov’t inaction on the strike–6

Carlo Ople also noticed the tweets and added that “He’s obviously free to say whatever he wants to say on Twitter but if things go wrong this could end up as another PR disaster for him.”

One thing Lacierda should know is that “… not all those who join strikes are leftists..” as @highreaching points out and should choose his words carefully. The leftists as well as right wing, conservatives, moderates are all citizens of the Philippines. @jcmaningat tells @dawende , “I also hope that you keep in mind that not all those who join strikes are leftists, so I suggest you choose your words carefully.”

It is understandable that both sides are frustrated. The promise of a review of the Oil Deregulation Law without any concrete action against the abuse of the kartel is useless and deceptive. This “review” should be done long ago.

Who wouldn’t be “pikon’?

The government can in fact immediately act on the oil price hikes by 1) immediately stopping oil price increases amidst clear proof of overpricing and abuse and file cases to effectively stop the oil companies from increasing prices, 2) lifting the VAT on oil to immediately lower oil prices, and 3) prioritizing legislation filed in congress scrapping the oil deregulation law and pushing congress to pass it immediately.

The government needs to see outside the usual “review”. These “leftists” are very much part of the citizenry. Everyone gets affected with the oil price hikes. Band-aid measures which will be rendered are utterly useless if oil prices continue to surge.

Read the reactions on @dawende and @abi_valte tweets that I curated via storify.

Eight months after the May 2010 elections  passed us by, yet the President talks like a candidate. Instead of winning the “noisy minority” over, he prefers to goad them.   Ang_mungo  is saddened with this latest swipe because he believes that the “atmosphere is currently divisive and yet you have a President who talks that way.” In my article, “Where is the roadmap for change, President Aquino?”, I stressed the importance of listening to the critics especially those that do not carry a political agenda. If he only listens to the “Yes Men” or the whispers of  the “silent majority”, he will not hear the voice of the people. I feel the President is too sensitive towards criticism. Is popularity getting into his head, just because a great majority of the people trust him and thus, he can do no wrong?

Instead of rambling vague statements like “noisy minority” and “malicious practices of the past”, what about  turning the focus on uniting and rebuilding this nation? True, political challenges exist.  He must  then foster open communication with political and ideological groups. The President needs to allow well-meaning members of the civil society, citizen watch dogs,  the academe, and people’s organizations to remain engaged in policy-making.  “If Aquino loses his grasp of the grassroots situation and only believes in what his close in associates report to him, the President will slowly lose an objective assessment of reality and will, like his predecessors, be totally isolated, thinking that he is doing a nice job when the opposite is being experienced by the people.”

Read full article here:
Noisy minority, are you here?

Here are a few social media reactions on the noisy minority

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Photo from Vencer Crisostomo. Some Rights Reserved