I was supposed to take a bath, but I decided to hang out in the tub instead.

“Noynoying” is not simply a personal attack on Aquino but rather an assessment of the kind of government that we have today, one that is grossly insensitive to the plight of the Filipino people. Aquino represents that kind of government. He is the main articulator of its policies. He’s the one not acting when he is expected to act. More than being funny, there’s a truth to the term “noynoying” and that’s probably the reason why it has caught on in social media.

For one who heads the National Anti-Poverty Commission, an agency that supposedly is attuned to the needs of the poor, Rocamora apparently sees nothing wrong with Aquino’s refusal to scrap or lower the VAT on oil. Rocamora sees nothing wrong with Aquino’s rejection of a P125 wage increase–a measure that would greatly help Rocomora’s supposed constituents. The NAPC chair sees nothing disturbing with the Aquino government’s oft-repeated response of “wala tayong magagawa”, whether it’s about oil prices or tuition increases.   (Neither do we see Rocamora’s Akbayan friends protesting in the streets against economic ills, not like they used to anyway).

Rocamora attempts to explain Aquino’s different priorities at this stage of his presidency. “The bulk of PNoy’s time is spent on economic issues… but getting at GMA and Corona, earlier Merceditas Gutierrez, is necessary to dismantle the apparatus of impunity put together by GMA for her cabal”.

Unfortunately, Aquino’s performance has been found wanting on both economic issues and the issue of making GMA accountable. “Dismantling immunity” remains all talk as Arroyo is yet to be made accountable for the bigger crimes of plunder, gross human rights violations and wholesale electoral fraud. And when Rocamora says the bulk of Aquino’s time is spent on economic issues, does he mean the “conditional cash transfer” and “pantawid pasada”, because that’s a lot of time spent of palliatives.

What Rocamora wants us to believe is that Aquino is working hard and that it’s only the activists (national democrats) with their ideological blinders who refuse to see this.

“They see reforms as obstacles to the realization of their illusory revolution. But they cannot oppose specific reforms with massive public support. They cannot oppose the government’s victory on Hacienda Luisita redistribution, so they push for a collective title for the farmers,” Rocamora said.

A collective “Wah?!” would not be enough.

Rocamora distorts the facts in the Luisita dispute to make it appear that the activists and their struggle are threatened by Aquino’s so-called “reforms”. (Anu daw, government victory ang Luisita redistribution? Di ba mga magbubukid ang lumaban at nagbuwis ng buhay para dun?). If anything, the struggle in Luisita shows the limitations of the farmer’s options under the current legal processes and government programs.

There have been many in the past who predicted the demise and irrelevance of the Left, often citing “democratic reforms” as the basis.  Rocamora is not the first, and probably won’t be the last. Budget Secretary Butch Abad said as much last week. (And why spend so much energy calling something supposedly irrelevant as, well… irrelevant?)

Ah, if the national democratic Left was as irrelevant as Rocamora and Abad claim, why is it that a “leftist-conceived” term like “noynoying” gained wide currency? It’s because the NatDems are not alone in saying it. They’re joined by everyone else who feels government is not doing enough or anything at all.

The youth activists just gave a name to a collective sentiment that was already there (and in so doing, showed they are more sensitive to the public pulse than the well-oiled Palace communications group). This is something that Malacanang has failed to understand. Indeed, none so blind as those who will not see or are “noynoying”. ###

The new protest in no longer about senselessly lying supine to the ground with no symbolic implication, it is now about posing for the camera while doing nothing to show one’s indignation over inaction and indifference.

Various youth organizations in Metro-Baguio took it to the streets last Monday but this time not armed with placards and the loud shouts of various calls and challenges. Instead, they enacted the emerging way of protesting against the lack of visible change in the ways the current administration deals with the problems of the people – Noynoying.

Noynoying protest at Skyworld, Session Road (March 19, 2012)

At around noon in Skyworld, Session Road, several members of the youth from Anakbayan, National Union Students of the Philippines and Kabataan Partylist set-up a human size picture frame where each one of them posed alternately to depict inactivity and indifference. Called Noynoying, this is becoming a trend among the people, especially the youth who are fed up with the performance of the Aquino administration in answering to the needs of its constituents. In the protest action last Monday, the several youth organizations lamented Aquino’s lack of action in stopping the commercialization of education. Tracy Anne Dumalo, regional secretariat of Anakbayan Cordillera cited the case of the 300% tuition fee increase proposal that will take effect in all State Universities and Colleges in the region.

“Habang sa pambansang antas ay patuloy ang pagbabalewala ni Noynoy karapatan ng mga kabataan na makapag-aral tulad ng tinuturo sa atin ng patulyo na pagbabawas ng budget para sa edukasyon at pagpaprioritize sa utang-panlabas, ang mga kabataan sa Kodilyera ay mararamdaman ang epekto nito simula sa susunod na pasukan kung saan magiging minimum na 100 na ang babayarin nila kada yunit. Tunay ngang inutil si Noynoy at ang administrasyon niya. Lahat sila nagno-Noynoying,” Dumalo stressed.

The youth organizations also touched on the issue of the continuing increases in the oil prices, resulting to the approval of the provisional fare increase this week in the National Capital Region and some other regions in the county. Last Wednesday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approved the fare increase from P8.00 to P8.50 which took effect in ten regions in the country, including NCR. In the Cordillera where the minimum jeepney fare was already P8.50, there was no increase that took effect.

Despite of this, the youth organizations still see the implications of the increase to the Cordillera youth. Cielo Marie Bayson of NUSP said, “With an increased transportation fare resulting from the unceasing increases in oil prices, it would be not hard to foresee the prices of basic commodities increasing as well, especially the agricultural products being transported from other parts of the region. Also, with the jeepney drivers getting the fare increase, we can also expect the bus operators to request for the same increase which will affect the citizens of the region.”

The youth closed the program with the continuously challenging the Aquino administration. “Proved to us that you are not Noynoying; that you are doing something to buffer the impact of the economic crisis to your constituents who are day after day threatened by the barest means of subsistence,” they said.

Noynoying. [noy-noying]

Noun

1. not doing anything
2. idle, laziness
3. complacency
4. procrastination
5. unproductive
6. inaction to problems
7. doing a sloppy job, ineffective

Verb

1. to inhibit one’s self from any action or productive work
2. to indulge in not doing anything as a privilege of a boss
3. to postpone any decision or rigid mental activity that entails a performance follow through

Origin. 2011-2012; Philippines. A Filipino cosmo word taken from the nickname of the present President Aquino, Noynoy + suffix ing of v. action.

Example sentences from Twitter.

1. Let me predict what you’re doing now. It’s 315pm and you’re all #NoyNoying at your desk, watching the clock, waiting for 5pm to come. (@djmotwiter)
2. Another lazy day. Perfect for #noynoying. I’m bored though. (@zihrio)
3. Procrastinating my lunch. thinking about #noynoying first and try to play some draw something. (@leansanchez)

Pascual (2012) further defines it as “it simply means for someone expected to act on a problem to just sit there and do nothing.” Noynoying is an attribute to a disgraceful slackness. And as it is going viral now, people see it in different ways. First it is seen as a despicable negligence. But the question is, is it acceptable? It is NOT. More than a negative context, it is an insult to the whole Filipino race. We are a nation of hard-working, productive people. We despise apathy to inaction. Second, it is now becoming an excuse by many people not to work or to perpetuate laziness. It is an excuse because if the president of the country is permitted to be under performing or not performing at all, how much more the ordinary citizen of this nation. We are all working and contributing to raise our beloved country. But if the people will see their president not doing his role and share of work, if people see their president not giving importance to our country, then how do we expect every Juan dela Cruz to work now.

This viral may go worse. It is not enough the Palace is releasing photos of the president working (why only now?) As JM Ragaza (2012) points out in his article, noynoying is a “symbolic protest”,  an insult to the governance that our country is experiencing right now.

References:

Pascual, F. (2012). How sweet it is to do nothing. Manilamail.com Retrieved from http://www.manilamail.com/archive/mar2012/12mar22.html

Ragaza, JM (2012). Why Noynoying is offensive (and why the Palace is hurting)? Philippine online chronicles.

It has been busy in the office today but at least it’s not hellish like last week. I think I had some accomplishments today. I attended a meeting in behalf of my boss and had a long mentoring session with a staff, who is very intelligent but seems unable to write an intelligible proposal. Her IQ is way higher than those of the others that only one person can relate to her — me.

I told her, “you know what, I only to need to read more and I assure you I will dig what you’re saying.” The only problem is we’re not the only people in the office who will implement the project. So I begged her to write in a language we all understand.

So I bled my brain dry to help her convert what she wrote into layman’s terms. Somehow, we were able to simplify the proposal, but at the end of the session, I felt like Rogue (X-Men) sucked the life out of me. It took a while for me to recharge, clear my mind of all the mind-boggling formula she introduced, and started to think of other things.

For one, tomorrow our team will go out on an excursion. Perhaps due to excitement, I couldn’t sleep . I know I need to get decent sleep to enjoy the trip, but something’s bugging me.

Actually it has been bugging me for quite sometime . Funny, I haven’t really done anything about it and kept putting it off for days or months now. It’s an extra job I accepted a long time ago that I need to finish already for the good of everyone. Sure I already have a draft, but that’s just it — a draft! I’ve been aching to see its completion but for some reasons — blogging being one of them — I couldn’t get over it and move on. Everytime I attempt to finish it, my mind shuts down. And I start staring at nothing doing “Noynoying”!

Damn! Why is this so hard? This used to be my cup of tea, a piece of cake (now I’m hungry). Earlier I felt calm and thought I could focus but I get so distracted by so many things. Then I ask myself, “why do I need to do this?” Then I go back to the litany of reasons why I need to do this, and the long and short of it is because I need to earn more. Goodness gracious, I’m sick of this!

So now I am pulled towards a vacuum of no worries and okayness. Everything’s alright, until it explodes. By then, I will be worried and harried and buried by things I will need to do fast and all at the same time. When that time comes. Maybe I should just wait for that day.

Well I guess this calls for another occasion for procrastination.

Once fashionable and popular, planking has been eclipsed by a new sensation that has gripped many Filipinos around the globe. Planking was last year’s standard pose in youth and student protests against education budget cuts. Noynoying is the new planking in the Philippines.

Introduced in response to the President Noynoy Aquino regime’s inaction on oil price hikes, Noynoying is derived from the root word Noynoy, the nickname of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. It is described as “doing nothing when in fact you have something to do.”

The other day, I joined Iloilo students in noynoying against tuition and other school fee increases on the occasion of the launching of our Panay Students Tuition Monitor. The activity got covered by national TV:

Noynoying now has its own Wikipedia entry too. However, this is being considered for deletion after complaints about the Wikipedia article’s “neutrality”:

The term is attributed to the Philippine President Noynoy Aquino and simply means “doing nothing.” It is depicted by yawning, staring aimlessly, lying on the ground, looking bored, or just lazing around. In yet another colloquial Filipino term, it means being “petiks” or not taking something seriously.

The three-headed hydra press department couldn’t help but fend off the criticisms. They said, he is working really  hard. If there are lots of problems in the country, they’re all the previous administration’s doing. So they released a photo of the working president:

See! He’s very busy  scrutinizing about six documents that he forgot to put his glasses on. Note also that underneath the newspaper is a copy of the Constitution. He’s probably checking if the Senate could really summon Chief Justice Renato Corona notwithstanding that annoying thing called ”separation of powers.”

Vice President Jejomar Binay, nonetheless, came to the president’s aid. In an interview, he said:

“Tigilan n’yo na ang ating Presidente (Give our President a break)… Can you imagine that the President eh di nagtatrabaho (is not working)? Siguro naman kahit ang mga barangay captains nagtatrabaho, di ba (Even barangay captains work, don’t they)?”

Like it really helped. Yes of course, even barangay captains or village chiefs work. The only problem is Noynoy is the PRESIDENT. He’s got not just a village to manage, but a nation. He’s already close to two years in the job, but it seems that there has been little progress in this administration in terms of economic development and poverty reduction, if not nil. Though there has been an awful lot of progress in persecuting the previous administration. But aside from entertainment, what does an ordinary citizen really get from it?

There’s also nothing inspirational about how the international media see him:

“Mr. Aquino might not be the most hands-on president to have led the Philippines. Since being elected in a landslide in 2010, Mr. Aquino has sometimes been caught laughing it up with celebrities instead of attending to the impact of typhoons and other disasters. It also taps into old Philippine folk tales about Juan Tamad, or Lazy Juan, who manages to get by doing the least amount of work to get by.”

On the other hand, the press department could be right. All the problems the Philippines is facing should be blamed on the former president. If 15 million Filipinos did not hate her so much in 2010, then Noynoy would not be running the country today.

Answer: Annoying!

Yes, annoying, and they should know it every time these group of people manifest the antics depicting a lazy, do-nothing president. Their actions are not only self-serving, but are ridiculous imitations of who PNoy really is and, simply said, it is annoying to many Filipinos who are keenly following events here and abroad.

What a shame! Definitely these belligerent groups are doing it not only for comic effect or to generate laughter, but more in ridicule of the president who is trying hard in making this country productive and respectable.

The state of the nation and the welfare of the greater majority of the people are the greater pictures to be looked into and not attending simply to issues that the government or PNoy himself has no control of, like the price of oil. It is a global predicament brought about by global problems that needs a global solution.

Note that the parody of ‘Noynoying’ was first introduced by activists during a protest against oil price hikes.

But if one looks at the bigger picture it will show that, among other things, PNoy said that there are now various investments and infrastructure projects in Metro Manila alone.

According to him, Filipinos now have a stronger purchasing power, claiming that the majority of mall goers actually buy something instead of just window-shopping.

He also cited the 21 times in his 21 months in office that the stock market has set records, the most recent, the Philippine Stock Exchange index’s breaching of the 5,000 mark last week.

And, not only that. Corrupt government officials are being tried now. Can more be said?

Defending his administration, PNoy posed the following questions: “When they say that I am not doing anything and our situation is turning downhill, what conclusion can we form from that? Are they looking (at what we have accomplished)? Are they listening to us?

“If they do not want (to acknowledge our accomplishments), what can I do? I will just do what I think is right and I think this has brought us (positive) results,” he added.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was right when he gave PNoy an unsolicited advice, saying,  it would be better for the President to laugh off the criticisms being hurled against him and just concentrate on serving the country. He was referring to the tag, ‘Noynoying.’

”There are many people who would call you names. There are just some people who have nothing to do but to carp but when they are put on that spot they can’t do anything,” he said.

Enrile knows whereof he speaks.

“Pumunta kayo ng mall, tingnan ninyo ang hila ng taong may dala-dalang packages na binili sila versus ‘yung namamasyal lang sa mall. At pati sila parang nadadama na mas marami nga ring may pera para pambili sa mga produktong ‘yon,” the President said.

“When you go around Metro Manila, or elsewhere sa mga sorties natin, pansinin ninyo ‘yung dami ng mga buildings, ‘yung mga fences na nakalagay kung ano ang tinatayo nila diyan. Tapos ‘yung ‘pag sa construction, kunwari sa Fort, doon ko nakikita nang madalas, hindi lang tumatakbo ‘yung mga crane ng Saturday, Sunday, pati gabi, nilalagyan pa ng advertisement ng construction company,” he said.

“I’ve been in office for 21 months and the record was broken 21 times,” Mr. Aquino said, referring to the stock exchange index.

Surely, the President cannot claim progress just because the stock market is up and because he thinks there are more actual shoppers than window shoppers in malls nowadays. Aquino’s claims regarding the economy betray a shallow appreciation of the economic difficulties many of our people face. If this is progress for Aquino, then the poor are in big trouble. It would appear no help is forthcoming.

The stock market has ceased to be an indicator of growth of the real economy as its rise is often triggered by speculative investments that have no productive output. As for his take on shoppers, it would be interesting to know what mall the President has actually observed to reach the conclusion that there are now more real shoppers than window shoppers.

Aquino has also gone on to justify his intransigence on the VAT on oil saying that making oil cheaper encourages consumption, implying of course that this is bad. We simply cannot have consumers buying more oil and using their vehicles more often which causes more traffic. Ah, there are endless reasons why the VAT should stay and why economic suffering is ok.

It is Aquino and his officials who appear to be living in a different world, a place where there are only happy mall-goers, rosy stock market indices and busy construction sites that point to economic growth. In this world, oil prices are not a problem no matter how high they get. Poverty is just a state of mind and unemployment is fiction.

Be thankful Mr. President that today’s protests are still tinged with humor. There might come a time when there will only be anger over your government’s inaction.    ###

P.S. The truth has a funny way of biting you in the behind…as seen from this classic video.

by Max Santiago

The price hikes next week bring us ever closer to the highest ever price of P60 per liter recorded in 2008. And Malacanang is still not taking any decisive action to rein in oil prices and give the people relief … No wonder the term ‘noynoying’ has caught on. –Renato Reyes, Jr., BAYAN

Ayon sa facebook.com/Noynoying2012, ang Noynoying ay: ang pagiging tanga at nakatungaga sa panahon na dapat may ginagawa ka. Kung wala ka nga namang ginagawa sa kabila ng maraming kailangan gawin, tiyak na maihahalintulad ka sa nakaupong presidente ngayon ng bansa. At kung ikaw ang presidente ng bansa, ‘wag ka nang magtaka kung mapuna ka kasi hanap ng tao ay pagbabago.

Because planking is so last year, there was a buzz in social media networks from youth groups about a new form of protest called “noynoying”. They defined “noynoying” as the act of doing nothing even if you are supposed to be doing something. “Noynoying” came from the root word Noynoy, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s (PNoy) nickname. “Noynoying” represents the administration’s inaction to pressing issues like oil price hike, budget cuts on social services and demolition of urban poor communities.

“Noynoying” was first introduced by youth groups yesterday at the protest in front of the National Housing Authority (NHA) before the start of the transport caravan.

Photo by Ciriaco Santiago III

Meanwhile, at the Palace press conference on the same day, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda just shrugged of “noynoying” and said that it won’t have any effect on the public. But on the same day they released PNoy’s photo while working in his office.

Photo from the Official Gazette

But while everybody was sleeping, #noynoying was top 9 in the Philippines trends in Twitter. No effect, eh?

So youth group Anakbayan released a guide on “How to do the NOYNOYING”.

So come on and shoot that #noynoying pose and post it in the internet to get our message across that we don’t want a #noynoying government. We need our government to immediately act on important peoples’ issues.

But please, no #noynoying all day.

Chilled beer!

and this monster of a burger at Texas Roadhouse Grill

Huuuuuge burger at Texas Roadhouse Grill

we went Noynoying around BGC, where things are bright, ginormous and Christmas-ey.

Christmas tree at Serendra

Poinsettias - real ones

Antihistamine please

Mother Allergen

...about to get me

Buti na lang may Teddy Bear

Buti na lang may gelatto

Countdown to Christmas begins.

Nine days after the onslaught of Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel,” President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday finally saw for himself flood-devastated areas in three provinces.

We live in the age of internet and social media. This is the age when new words and terms spread faster than a new strain of flu and memes are as ordinary as the everyday traffic situation at EDSA.

We’ve seen a lot. From the way jejemons type their messages to the new poses such as planking, owling, batmaning, and bakling. And now, inspired by our President’s alleged management style, there’s a new term that is about to spread (if successful) in the internet.

Noynoying.

I was drunk browsing cyber stuff last night when I came across a screen cap of a Facebook conversation supposedly coming from Overheard at UP Facebook page. According to it, noynoying is defined as a term for that idle moment na walang ginagawa pero dapat ay mayroon na.

For example, Dapat nagre-review pero noynoying muna.

Procrastination has a new name. And it was inspired by our President.

Critics have been accusing Aquino of being lax on his duty as President and having poor management skills. Recently, the Opposition slammed Aquino for not being present during the onslaught of Typhoons Pedring and Quiel.

This is not the first time that Aquino was criticized for not being present during the time of crisis. During the height of the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis, the President was also criticized for not being present at the situation. During the height of the tragedy.

If that would always be the case, we should have picked a superhero instead as our leader. Like Bayani Fernando.

Is Noynoy Aquino really lax or not? Are you satisfied with the way the Administration deal with tragedies and calamities? (Okay, this sounds like a Teevee Patrol text poll).

Maybe. But I believe that one is immortalized when his name is used as an adjective. And a verb. Like Noynoying. Or numo-Noynoy.

Keep calm. And stop noynoying.

Be productive Pilipinas! Padayon!

Other related reads:

• Why Aquino didn’t visit flood victims sooner Read the Administration’s ‘defense’ here. It’s kinda convincing. Sort of.
• Christmas in jail for Arroyos seen Sa wakas! Mailalagay na sa kalaboso ang mga mandurugas! Merry Christmas Pilipinas! (I love the the way words rhyme.)