Outgoing govt execs asked to stop giving Noynoy unsolicited advice

Saying it is bordering on the realm of the shameful, Malacañang discouraged outgoing government officials Friday from giving "unsolicited advice" to President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III. In a radio interview, outgoing deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar likened such initiatives to a man insisting on courting a woman who had rejected him. "Ang pagbigay ng unsolicited advice… parang ipinagpipilitan ang sarili kahit busted na. E, maraming magaling na kasama sa kanyang administrasyon, bakit natin ipipilit ang sarili natin? Di ba parang nakakahiya tingnan (Why force ourselves on someone who does not want or need our advice? Aquino has his own bright people. If we insist on giving advice, it is like a spurned man insisting on his courtship. Is it not shameful)?" Olivar said in an interview on dwIZ radio. "For the next six years we [will] have an Aquino presidency so let him be the one to lead the country the way he wants it. Let him do it, yan ang kanyang mandato (that is his mandate)," he added. Aquino has been getting unsolicited advice in the run-up to his inauguration on June 30. Much of the advice – channeled through media – had come from militant groups and Catholic Church officials. Olivar said that while outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had said she is placing government at the new administration's disposal, she is still the holder of the Office of the President, which he said deserves government officials' loyalty until now. "Meron tayong obligation na maging loyal sa Office of the President (We have an obligation to remain loyal to the office of the president)," he said. Support Aquino Olivar also reminded government officials to support the incoming administration, or to at least give it their best wishes. "Kung kayo ay sumuporta kay President-elect Aquino, meron kayong obligation na suportahan at itaguyod siya. Kung hindi, meron kayong obligation to give him your best wishes. Sino ba naman ang may gustong hindi magtagumpay ang magiging pangulo natin kahit sino pa man yan? Kung sino ang ibinoto natin, that is beside the point (If you supported Aquino, you have the obligation to help him succeed. If you did not, you have the obligation to give him your best wishes. Who does not want the president to succeed? Who we voted for in the May 10 elections is not the question here)," he said. Besides, Olivar said, Aquino won with a big margin, he is "perfectly entitled to do what he wants" based on what he himself sees right or wrong. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV