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Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Philippine Daily Inquirer writes today about my article on PNoy’s awful photo

July 7, 2011

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Here it is:

President Aquino’s photo not the ‘real picture’

By Christine O. Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:32 am | Thursday, July 7th, 2011

A “snapshot” doesn’t a real picture make.

This was Malacañang’s reaction to an unflattering Palace photo of President Benigno Aquino III that has gone viral on the Internet.

Palace officials came to the defense of the President over a picture of Mr. Aquino that blogger Raisa Robles said had drawn 200 criticisms ranging from the tacky interiors of his office to his desk that was strewn not with papers but with an ash tray and a pack of cigarettes.

“The general observations made by the commentators were that the office lacked presidential dignity. The ash tray and cigarette on President Aquino’s desk showed that he was violating the new No Smoking Law. And his nearly empty desk was proof of a do-nothing presidency,” Robles said in her blog “Inside Philippine Politics and Beyond.”

Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that people were “reading too much into that one singular photo.”
Commenting on the ash tray and cigarette pack, Valte said it was “no secret” that Mr. Aquino was a smoker and that if they were there, it was just like any smoker who would “keep their cigarettes in their bags or on the table.”

But Valte said the ashtray was empty. “So you can’t automatically infer that he had been smoking the time the photo was taken,” Valte said.

As to lack of papers on the presidential desk, Valte said the President makes it a point to clear his desk at the end of the day. Mr. Aquino brings home the papers he has not read, Valte said.

“So it’s not a sign that the President is not working or something like that,” she said.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that one “cannot gauge and conclude from one single photograph that the President is not working.”

“That is an unfair basis to judge the President’s working habit,” Lacierda said.

Here’s the link to the Inquirer article

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Related Stories:

Awful but genuine President Noynoy Aquino photo goes viral on the web

Thank you, ABS-CBN, for picking up my PNoy photo story

Tagged With: Philippine Daily Inquirer, PNoy smoking, Presidential deputy spokeswoman Abigail Valte

Comments

  1. Mark Pere Madrona says

    July 11, 2011 at 8:37 AM

    Miss Raissa, you should be identified in the article as a “veteran journalist” and not just a “blogger.” Apparently. Ms. Avendano do not know who you are and why you are credible.

    And why interview only Lacierda and Valte? They are both Malacanang talking heads – therefore, they cannot be expected to say two different things. :)

    • raissa says

      July 11, 2011 at 9:56 AM

      Dear Mark,

      Thanks for your concern.

      Journalism is FAST changing.

      Even veteran journalists are only as good as their latest bylines.

      I have long been writing for foreign media. My website is my way of giving back to my country and countrymen. And the only thing I can share is what I have learned.
      :)

      Raissa

      • Mark Pere Madrona says

        July 12, 2011 at 12:00 PM

        And who will forget your classic question about Pres. Arroyo’s sex life. :)

        That is so nice of you, Miss Raissa. A veteran journalist who pays it forward for her home country. More power to you. :)

  2. Luwi Cheng says

    July 10, 2011 at 2:24 PM

    correction: “A “snapshot” doesn’t a real picture make” actually came from the palace not from the inquirer writer.

  3. Luwi Cheng says

    July 10, 2011 at 1:45 PM

    contrary to what the writer Christine O. Avendaño of Philippine Daily Inquirer
    says “A “snapshot” doesn’t a real picture make,” that awful picture was taken in one unguarded moment when the truth is unwittingly revealed. it is not posed and therefore gives a truer picture. the grave mistake of the communication group is that they did not have the good sense and discrimination to see to it that an incriminating and compromising photo will not be shown in public. those are very careless and have unwittingly damaged the image of their boss.

  4. Luwi Cheng says

    July 10, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    being a scion of a wealthy clan does not confer a person aesthetic taste and good sense automatically. does aquino need a personal stylist to attend to his sartorial requirements if he has taste? as for the lame excuse of his spokesperson, all the evidences of smoking are there on the desk, so what she is saying are all a product of her feeble mind and reasoning. smoking is a dirty habit, that is what the dept. of health says is it not? so what is so dignified with somebody who continues with his dirty habit and yet decrees no smoking in public? plezzz

  5. Evangeline Eriksson says

    July 7, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    I agree very well to the comments from the Malacanan. My desks is filled with papers & documents, but I seldom work with papers myself. I had figured out fr the 1st time i saw the president´s desk that he was a very tidy person.

    About smoking by the chronic smoker–this requires much time and medical doctor´s guidance to wean from the smoking. I would not agree to some people´s comment describing the smoking president for being undignified. To call him tasteless and classless in his office decorations are too much of a non-sense to me. Remember this is son of a very rich family, who can afford high qualities of material stuffs.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist Then they came fof the Trade Unionists, and I did not out speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me— And there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

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