President Aquino’s X’mas wish: No more pointless criticism

HISTORIC YOUTUBE APPEARANCE. President Aquino welcomes Google executive Ross LaJeunesse during the YouTube Worldview Interview in Malacañang on Friday. The Philippine President is the first Asian head of state to participate in the Worldview series. MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

President Aquino on Friday made known to netizens worldwide his Christmas wish: That people would stop “criticizing anything and everything” and be more cooperative and caring.

Participating in the video-sharing site YouTube as southeast Asia’s first interviewee on its World View series, Mr. Aquino also addressed a wide range of issues from his strategy in dealing with the country’s insurgencies to what the Philippines had to offer tourists.

A 7-year-old boy named Joshua asked the last question that was chosen for the interview. He asked whether the President believed in Santa Claus and what his wish was for Christmas if he did.

“Do I believe in Santa Claus? Santa Claus perhaps is a personification of… (the) best in people, the idea of generosity. The idea of caring does come out, at least for Christians during this period, most particularly and most shall we say strongly,” President Aquino said.

“More than anything, we really have to shift, to those of us still left (from) the criticize-anything-and-everything phase to transforming ourselves into how we can assist our neighbor, our sister, our brother or whoever, somebody we don’t even know,” President Aquino said.

President Aquino said people should think of how to contribute “towards the improvement of the whole rather than concentrate on envy or concentrate on our ability to criticize daily to ad infinitum that leads to nowhere.”

“Perhaps that idea of caring for everybody does not exist only during the Christmas period but more so is a facet of everyday life that has to be—looking out rather than looking purely at ones’ own self-interest,” President Aquino said.

Among the prominent world leaders already interviewed were US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Asked what place in the Philippines he would promote as a tourist destination, President Aquino declined to name a spot, saying choosing one may generate protest from the others.

He said the whole country was a sight to see and experience.

“You can practically go to any region in this country and there will be sights that will make your trip worthwhile,” Mr. Aquino said.

He plugged the country’s fresh food offerings, saying “while a lot of food from other countries are processed, those from the Philippines tend to keep more of the natural flavor intact.”

Whether one is adventurous or conservative, President Aquino said “there will be food that will really enhance your living.”

He said that when the country deals with the transportation needs of the country, interisland travel will expose more of our people to the bounties of our country.