Out of sight, out of mind

Call Gloria anything you want, but as Emil Jurado would say, you can never question Gloria's work ethic. After Typhoon Juaning hit Bicol, there were complaints from Albay Governor Joey Salceda about how PAGASA failed to inform them that the typhoon would be passing through their province. This is less than a week after the yellow president praised the agency for their accurate predictions and forecasts.

Now many people are asking where the president was at the height of the typhoon. Of course, we can expect his mouthpieces to say that th president was monitoring the situation, but wouldn't it have be better if the president made himself visible during the storm?

I remember in years past, PGMA, even when a typhoon was pounding Manila, would be out of Malacanang, attending the NDCC meetings or checking out evacuation areas. This is clearly not the case with Penoy, who has been out of sight, out of mind. The most visible official i have seen so far last Friday was that noisy undersecretary of PAGASA.

At a time when the people need to see leadership, the president was clearly absent, choosing to delegate authority rather than take charge. It is surprising since the yellow president and his palace have been known to micromanage anything that has anything to do with his perceived arch-enemy, Gloria Arroyo, but doesn't want to involve itself with things like disaster management. Ika nga, out of sight, out of mind. In his July 29, 2011 column, Emil Jurado had this to say:

And where, oh where was DSWD head honcho Stinky Soliman? Up to now, Albay has yet to receive much-needed relief. If i know my fellow Bicolanos, I would not be surprised if Joey Salceda is a tad bit disillusioned with his President right now.

Now, if you still have doubts, you might want to check the clippings below and see how the present leadership compares to the past when it comes to work ethics.

That's leadership you won't get with Penoy. 30