President Aquino wants the public to believe that he and his team are God’s gift to democracy. That they can do no wrong. Corruption in government is confined to some members of the political opposition. His men are like him : upright, honest and candidates for sainthood.

That’s the essense of Aquino’s televised ranting last Wednesday.

Apparently, Aquino and his team have sensed the public indignation over misuse of pork barrel funds, intended in principle for the poor but ended up in public officials pockets. If everything is going well, why would he make changes in his communication setup. He enjoyed high approval ratings with the condescending Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda (aligned with Mar Roxas faction) assisted by Abigail Valte and Communications strategist Ricky Carandang as his mouthpieces. Why then the need to bring in the unassuming Press Secretary Sonny Coloma, aligned with the 2010 election Samar group that supported Vice President Jojo Binay?

Aquino rails at those who criticize his creation: the Disbursement Accelerated Program.

His reaction was to blame senators Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon Revilla, Juan Ponce-Enrile (whom he didn’t even name.)

His off-target solution to the people’s dismay of how he is handling the pork barrel abuse reminds us of the anecdote about the beetle.

A boy wanted to find out what happens if the legs of the beetle are removed.

At first he shouted at the six-legged beetle “Move” and tapped the table. The beetle moved fast. He started with removing two legs of the beetle on both sides. Then he tapped the table and instructed “the beetle to “Move”. He noticed the beetle moved slower. He removed the next two legs and again told the beetle to “Move”, and he noted the beetle moved even slower. Then he removed the last two legs, shouted at the insect and tapped the table. The beetle didn’t move.

His conclusion: when you remove the beetle’s legs, it becomes deaf.

Hopeless.

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