mai, oh, mai, ricky carandang!
i have a good friend who used to be in mainstream media who is now with the malacanang news desk, coloma bloc, and the day he texted me the good news of his appointment was the last time we had a text exchange initiated by him.
a day or so after the august 23 bloodbath i texted him, fishing for info as to what else the president was up to that long afternoon and evening, just between him and me, just for my info, promise promise promise, and all i got was the official line, nothing more, nothing less.
needless to say, my respect for him has levelled up many notches, especially in the wake of the stupidly insolent irresponsible impertinent tweets of presidential speechwriter mai mislang, carandang bloc, while in vietnam with the president.
it bears pointing out that mislang was also in new york with the president last september and that we didn’t hearof any offensive tweets. bakit kaya? because the wine was great? the traffic was painless? the guys were guwapo? tweetless as in speechless lang siya in america the beautiful?
or was it because she was the only one of the carandang group in new york, it was so soon after boss ricky’s major major aug23 booboos, so she was on her best behavior? but what does this say about her bastos behavior in vietnam? she was a different person because vietnam is third world, and maybe because boss ricky came too, hindi siya nag-iisa, and they were having a blast and maybe just maybe they brought out the bastos instead of the best in each other?
because, really, i’m amazed that carandang didnt have the sense to shut her up at “sucks”. instead nakipagsagutan pa siya. the same with ces drilon, who i’m surprised didn’t have the sense to shut them both up. to top it all, carandang says he still has to figure out what to do about his tweeting darling, i mean, underlings, ano ba yan! so he stops everyone from tweeting and/or blogging kahit wala namang nagkakalat kundi si mislang.
carandang must have loved john nery’s piece on the Unfortunate Case of the Wine that Sucked:
One journalist whose work I admire said Mislang should have resigned—as though the offense had led to a major diplomatic crisis. I don’t think I am being inaccurate when I say this journalist’s opinion was widely shared. Mislang has since apologized, and apparently the offending tweets have been removed. But I still see the occasional comment, tsk-tsking the blunder and asking for blunderer’s head.
When, I would like to know, did my profession adopt the one-strike policy? There is no question that Mislang’s tweets were bad diplomacy, but when did it reach the level of official policy, serious enough to merit expulsion from government? Mislang, whom I do not know from Eve, is not in the foreign service, where her kind of jejune comment would have had severe implications for her career; granted, she works for President Aquino’s communications group, where the cardinal rule ought to be not to become news. Perhaps the appropriate sanction would have been a reprimand, and a decision to leave her out of official delegations in the future. Butresignation? For expressing an opinion that the host government did not consider offensive?
tsk tsk, john nery, what makes you think that the host government did not find any of it offensive? yes, we haven’t heard any reactions from the vietnamese but that doesn’t tell me they weren’t offended; more likely they’re just more civilized and sophisticated than we are — the french influence, no doubt — why stoop to our level? big mistake to think that it hasn’t affected / deepened / sharpened, and negatively, their opinion of us as a people. big mistake to think they don’t care if mislang is fired, or resigns, or not. i bet they do care, and they’re watching, and waiting. what goes around will come around. one day, one way or another (as with hong kong / china) there will be repercussions, that could go from bad to worse, depending on whether or not they see a head or two rolling.
dapat lang, one mistake and you’re out. no second chances. the hell with learning curves for anyone who wasn’t elected. learn the ropes elsewhere. the presidency is the highest and most important office in the land. the president needs, should have, professionals around him, not bumbling amateurs and overrated kids who have no sense of delicadeza and who are so full of themselves, they’ve become national embarrassments.
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read too:
Propriety means never having to say you’re sorry / The internet is forever / The wine will always suck by karen cardenas.
The Mai Mislang Whinery by boo chanco.