Noynoying: Don’t be A-Noy-ed, Mr. President (just work hard!)

You know you’ve made it when your name becomes not just a noun, but also a verb. In the last few weeks, the media has been all over our beloved President, PNoy, over his laidback style of leadership and perceived lack of inaction. The concocted funny yet memorable word used to describe him is a play on his name: noynoying.

Wikipedia defines it

You know you’ve made it when you find yourself in Wikipedia. Not only is the word noynoying hitting high marks in the Google search engine world, it has found a page in researchers’ favorite home page, Wikipedia.

According to the online reference, noynoying is defined as “a neologism used to define criticisms against the so-called “do-nothing” work ethic and inaction of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III over emergency response and rising oil prices.”

Manila Standard gets the credit ?

It appears that this very catchy noun-verb first appeared in Manila Standard Today back in October 8, 2011. The word was coined by columnists Karl Allan Barlaan and Christina Cardiente as a criticism for the delayed response of the President to the victims of the two successive typhoons that hit the north, Pedring and Quiel.

The word has taken a life of its own and it’s an embarrassment to our President. Even the international community has taken notice. Reports of his weekend trips to go shooting have leaked. Even his personal life is being scrutinized. It’s like the President can’t go dating other women since he needs to buckle down and do a Herculean task before him.

Militants and anti-PNoy people have taken the word and brandished it everywhere. Now, anytime they perceive PNoy to be lackadaisical or stupid, they say he is noynoying.

Working photos

In response to the bad publicity, Malacanang has released (though Malacanang belied that this was the reason for releasing the photos) photos of our beloved President hard at work. In one shot, he was seen carrying massive amounts of paperwork and folders that he needed to review for a Malacanang briefing. Another photo in another daily showed him sitting behind a desk, with piles of paperwork for review.

This may not necessarily be the best response given that we want action and results. We want the one million jobs a year promised. Percentages don’t mean anything unless they translate to money in our wallet and food at our table. We want the corrupt out of our government. We want red tape to disappear. We want it to be easy to deal with government offices, whether it’s renewing a driver’s license or car registration, applying for a business permit or trying to get our basic services such as food, electricity, commuting, garbage collection and mail distribution.

His accomplishments

PNoy is so laid back and so low profile, it hardly seems that we have a President. He doesn’t go for every photo opportunity like other Presidents have in the past. Considering he has a showbiz sibling, he’s not ma-showbiz.

Yes, the country’s growth rate was cut in half during his first full year in office. He also stopped the release of funds to a number of construction projects that would have boosted the country’s GDP. This was to review the contracts and to ensure fiscal responsibility.

However, this year, we are seeing record-breaking numbers in the stock market. Our stock market has hit more than 5,000 index points. More investors are coming in because his matuwid na daan policy seems to resonate with foreigners, and they are willing to invest in the country again. Our country has also gotten credit rating upgrades from the three credit rating agencies.

Morale of police officers is high, since more than 21,800 housing units have been distributed. In the news, more than 2,000 cops are undergoing criminal investigation training to improve police services. The military is also now enjoying modernization, starting with the purchase of a US warship. He has allotted a significant amount of the budget for military modernization.

The Senate is going through a landmark impeachment case against the Supreme Court President. PNoy has also gotten the former Ombudsman Merceditas Guiterrez to resign and has put into motion his massive government cleanup. It’s not an easy job, but hey, you volunteered to do it!

PNoy gets A-noy-ed

PNoy has earned a reputation with the media for being pikon. If he doesn’t like the write-up, he makes his displeasure known. He will also avoid granting interviews to people he feels aren’t supportive of his presidency. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the media’s noynoying of the President has taken root. Pikon kasi. And he takes things personally, even though he shouldn’t.

George Bush took it in stride

Perhaps PNoy should take a few pages from former American President George W. Bush. He has been portrayed as one of the dumbest if not the most incompetent US President ever. American late night talk show hosts were filled with material making fun of the US President. He can’t even pronounce certain English words, and he’s American!

When the people didn’t like his leadership during the last few years of his presidency, one journalist even threw a shoe at him! Pres. Bush earned international respect for being able to avoid the well-aimed footwear.

At least for PNoy, it’s still at the name calling level. He should be worried if people start throwing their tsinelas at him out of frustration.

Take it in stride

PNoy should remember that when he is criticized, it is because we are frustrated. We all have a vested interest in his success, which is why we are pushing him harder than ever. He gave us so many golden promises during his campaign, and it’s only natural that people’s expectations have been unrealistically set high. We don’t want our President to fail. When he is called names, we are just ensuring that he stays on the path that he promised. We want him to win and succeed big! Because at the end of the day, all the Filipinos will be the ones to reap the rewards of his hard work.

So Mr. President, please don’t get a-noy-ed even if you feel you don’t deserve the criticism. Just keep working hard and working smart, and one day, your critics will shut up if they see the concrete and irrefutable results of your actions.