While nation mourns Sendong's dead, Aquino partying with actresses in Palace?

[gagay]

MANILA -- Where was President Benigno S. Aquino III on Sunday evening, as the people of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities and several other areas in Visayas and Mindanao grappled with the devastation of tropical storm Sendong? Apparently, partying with his security personnel in Malacanang, enjoying the jokes and performances of actresses.

This was according to a post on Twitter by actress Valerie Concepcion on Sunday, the same day the combined death toll in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan climbed to more than 600.

“Done w/ work.. Tnx for having me.. It was nice to see Pres. P-Noy laughing at my jokes & enjoying my performance..ü #Malacañang #PSGNight," Concepcion said in her tweet that has since been deleted as of posting time.

In her series of tweets, Concepcion said she was performing three songs for the President and was alongside singer Jessa Zaragosa, who was one of the performers.

InterAksyon.com called the Presidential Security Group early Monday and confirmed that the PSG Christmas party was indeed held in Malacanang Sunday night. But the PSG personnel, who refused to be identified, said he was "not authorized to say if the President" was there.

Concepcion’s tweets have caught the ire of many Filipinos on the microblogging site who assailed the President for partying while Filipinos are suffering the brunt of Sendong.

“PNoy’s partying while people are dying,” said @I_amHolo.

Others commented on the president’s “misplaced” priorities. “Mr. PNoy, I hope you learn to prioritize things. People voted you to serve them, not to party. CDO is in plight. Deal with it,” tweeted Jan Brian Astrom.

Some, however, defended the President. Social activist and Manila maven Carlos Celdran, in a post on his Facebook wall, said he was "not going to make patol the Presidential Christmas partying and judge him. Seriously, I myself should be doing something better too. And if it's the PSG having their party & he 'passed by' to show solidarity, that's totally different from doing tequila body shots with Jessa Zaragoza. Seriously."

Whatever the context to the party and Aquino's presence, it was backdropped by public questions as to when the President intended to visit the provinces devastated by Sendong.

Earlier, the date of his trip to the South also caught the ire of some netizens, after the national disaster agency made a “typo” error and said he was visiting on December 27, raising howls of protest about why he had to wait after Christmas. The Palace corrected the date to December 20.

source : While nation mourns Sendong's dead, Aquino partying with actresses in Palace?

please read the full article to see screenshot of valerie concepcion's tweets before she deleted the post.

[criselda]

hihihihihi kayo naman, gabi naman pala yung party eh saka sunday naman.. diba ang pasok lang daw niya mon-fri 9-4

[gagay]

hihihihihi kayo naman, gabi naman pala yung party eh saka sunday naman.. diba ang pasok lang daw niya mon-fri 9-4

yun lang. pag yan ang dahilan nya wala talaga tayong laban dyan. baka ipaglaban nyang karapatan nya as a "worker" at patulong pa sya sa DOLE.

[izenkit]

To those who quickly criticized the president while doing nothing themselves to help, shame on them.

[Aga Mulat]

Aprub and endorced.

[holydevil]

is Pnoy supposed to be in CDO to stop the typhoon that day?

[samuraiX]

is Pnoy supposed to be in CDO to stop the typhoon that day?

maybe thats what is expected from him by other ppl anyway i have done my share and donated for the victims via abs-cbn

[Diabolique]

To those who quickly criticized the president while doing nothing themselves to help, shame on them.

And what have you done? Or are we supposed to operate by the logic that if you remain quiet and unassuming, that make it ok not to raise a hand in help?

Or perhaps that by the mere fact of putting in 500 pesos bill into the Aid for the victims of Sendong that gives us full reign to say whatever we want?

is Pnoy supposed to be in CDO to stop the typhoon that day?

Did any of us who posted run or are currently the seated official for President of the Philippines?

You see, the job of President entails duties and obligations to the entire nation. And not limited to the Capital City.

And, No we never expected him to stop the typhoon, because the sheer idea is simply a naive and childish attempt to make us look ignorant and gullible.

We expect that he will make time out of his busy schedule of carousing with starlets who delete their twitter feeds, to survey the damage for himself, meet with local representatives of the government, see through that all relief efforts are unhampered and all that needs to be done, is being done, cutting through anything that may be hindering the inter-agency efforts, as well as basically uplift the morale of the half a million filipino's in Cagayan De Oro affected by the typhoon.

[voltaire]

With the way he rants about on how the previous administration ravaged the country and about setting the country's direction on a straight unimpeded path, he should act hands-on, double or triple time on all areas of presidential concerns. We as citizens can only do so much, I for example, suggested that we cancel our Christmas party and reunion scheduled on Dec. 22 and donate the contributions and allocated money for the flood victims.

But the President, in as much as he cannot prevent a natural disaster from happening, can do a lot,not just in physically and logistically aid the victims the soonest possible time, but to be always on the forefront to unite the country and rally the citizenry in times of disaster and calamity. But it seems he is only on the forefront on matters of political maneuverings.

The way I see it, Jejomay Binay is more presidentiable, hands-on, no nonsense and always ready (Boy scout eh).

[suave]

Taga CDO ako...
Di rin naman ako maka-PNOY...

Binaha ang pamilya ko na andun. Mabuti na lang hanggang bewang lang yung kanila at malayo sila sa umapaw na ilog.

katulad ng nagyari dati sa Bicol. wala akong paki kung nasa disco, party, golf tournament, romantic date ang pangulo nung gabing sinasalanta ang pamilya ko ng bagyo.

Wala akong paki kung saang lupalop sya ng mundo basta nagpadala sya ng mga taong tutulong sa mga nasalanta.

Kahit wala ang pangulo basta andyan ang red cross
kahit wala sya basta andun ang NDCC
kahit wala sya basta andun ang mga LGU, NGO, Army, DSWD at iba pang ahensya na pwedeng tumulong.

Maaring mali ang makipag party sa kabila ng delubyong nangyari. Mali na kung mali pero - NAMAN- dapat di na ito pinalaki ng ganito.

Ang hirap sa ating mga Pinoy kasi superheo ang tingin natin sa pangulo na parang pwde nyang mag-isang dalhin sa kaligtasan at kaunlaran ang bansa.

habang tayong mamamayan eh prente lang na naka upo sa bahay na walang balak tulungan ang sarili.

[KillaCrab]

^^still he could have handled this better...

as i said he could have sent a "personal" emissary dun.. just for show..
and was not the entertainer brief before hand to keep everything in the party confidential? hay... lapses lapses ..

[oversoul1404]

so this means that he can't do anything other than go directly to CDO? i mean, it could be anything: "[insert Aquino's activity here] while people in CDO are dying". and no matter how the masses look at it, it will be derogatory since it'll be placed alongside people dying by the hundreds.

the government units and agencies such as the red cross and the army are under the president. isn't it more appropriate that they be on ground zero rather than the president who is only a single person and whose presence in the area can be branded by no more than a publicity stunt? and whose mobilization to the place can entail a great deal of attention and preparation when it comes to logistics and security? wouldn't it be better if such attention be directed to aid the search and rescue of those who are in distress?

[suave]

^^still he could have handled this better...

as i said he could have sent a "personal" emissary dun.. just for show..
and was not the entertainer brief before hand to keep everything in the party confidential? hay... lapses lapses ..

yep, killa...
sa palagay ko nga rin sana may mas maganda syang naging diskarte para dito.

pero sana rin di na ito pinalaki pa ng ibang kababayan natin.

---------- Post added at 01:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 PM ----------

so this means that he can't do anything other than go directly to CDO? i mean, it could be anything: "[insert Aquino's activity here] while people in CDO are dying". and no matter how the masses look at it, it will be derogatory since it'll be placed alongside people dying by the hundreds.

the government units and agencies such as the red cross and the army are under the president. isn't it more appropriate that they be on ground zero rather than the president who is only a single person and whose presence in the area can be branded by no more than a publicity stunt? and whose mobilization to the place can entail a great deal of attention and preparation when it comes to logistics and security? wouldn't it be better if such attention be directed to aid the search and rescue of those who are in distress?

good point...

baka imbes na magfocus ang mga ahensya ng gobyerno sa pagtulong eh mas maging busy sila sa pagsecure sa kaligtasan ng pangulo at sa pag istima ng espesyal na bisita.

alam ko sa bawat pagpunta ng pangulo sa isang lugar eh ginagastusan din yan. kaya imbes na gumastos dyan eh isama na lang sa ibibigay nilang tulong.

walang magagawa ang presensya ng pangulo dun kundi itaas ang morale ng tao. Na pwede nya namang gawin kahit wala sya dun.

[voltaire]

I think the issue here is not whether Pnoy should go to CDO and Iligan or not or should he go the soonest possible time or not,

The real issue here is should he attend the party or not during the height of the disaster while the malacanang issues a statement that he will visit the disaster area after christmas, which the palace damage control boys corrected by retracting and saying that the president intends to visit on Dec. 20, not Dec. 27 as stated earlier.

Lumalabas kasi na insensitive at laid-back talaga itong presidente natin.

[suave]

I think the issue here is not whether Pnoy should go to CDO and Iligan or not or should he go the soonest possible time or not,

The real issue here is should he attend the party or not during the height of the disaster while the malacanang issues a statement that he will visit the disaster area after christmas, which the palace damage control boys corrected by retracting and saying that the president intends to visit on Dec. 20, not Dec. 27 as stated earlier.

Lumalabas kasi na insensitive at laid-back talaga itong presidente natin.

ipit din yata si PNOY volt...
bago pa magkadelubyo naka oo na sya na dadalo sa party ng PSG.

dun sila talaga sumablay...
sa paglalabas ng maling impormasyon.

minsan ang pagiging praktikal eh napag kakamali natin sa pagiging insensitibo.
mas praktikal nga namang magpadala ng emisaryo na lang na aasikaso ng lahat lahat.
emisaryong maaring mas sanay at mas magaling pa sa kanya sa ganitong mga pagkakataon.

sablay lang talaga sa presentasyon ng imposmasyon ang malacanang.
sa huli, andun pa rin ako sa di na dapat pinalaki dahil habang sinisisi natin si PNOY
patuloy naman ding naghihirap ang mga kababayan natin sa CDO at iligan.

di naman nababawasan ang kalbaryo nila kpag sinisi pa natin ang isang tao.