PNoy’s Porsche and the “Daang Matuwid”

The daang matuwid meant a lot more than just a straightaway where the President can floor the accelerator in his expensive German sports car…

This is what columnist Jojo Robles has to say with the Presidents new toy!

PNoy’s Porsche and the “Daang Matuwid”

I’d like to buy a Porsche, too, sure, even a second-hand one. But if I were President, I’d sure think twice before doing such a stupid thing—even if I could afford to do it.

Yes, I’ve heard all the justifications for President Noynoy Aquino’s purchase of his latest toy, a white, entry-level Porsche, for less than P5 million. I know he traded in his BMW (which was dutifully declared in his statement of assets and liabilities) to buy the Porsche.

I even understand that a bachelor needs a sweet ride, and that there are few cars out there that can give the driving enthusiast the satisfying feeling of power and control like something that came off the Zuffenhausen assembly line. And, though I’ve never done it, I’d like to bring a Porsche to a racetrack as well, and drive like I’m in a real-world version of Gran Turismo 5.

But, if I’m Aquino, I’d worry about the message I’m sending to the people I’m supposed to be leading if I buy a Porsche. I’d think about how it would go over with Filipinos who are protesting the planned increase in fares of all sorts of public transportation, including the state-run MRT-LRT system.

(Heck, if I just bought a Porsche, I know my next problem will be where to drive it in the giant parking lot that is Metro Manila. Especially after the MRT-LRT fare increases take effect, traffic is sure to be worse than ever before as more people forsake the trains for cheaper modes of transportation.)

If I were President and I really wanted to drive a Porsche, I’m sure there will be no shortage of people who will lend me theirs. But I wouldn’t buy one, even if could, because it would just make me look insensitive to the plight of the poor who are finding it harder and harder to get around in kuligligs, habal-habals, pedicabs or on foot.

Furthermore, with the pressing problems that confront Aquino on a daily basis, some people are bound to wonder how their President can find the time to race around the Subic track like he has all the time in the world. Or is that intruding into Aquino’s now-famous “private time”?

And here I was thinking that this government is extremely sensitive to what people think. And that the daang matuwid meant a lot more than just a straightaway where the President can floor the accelerator in his expensive German sports car.