'Noy

Noynoy!!!

He says the name with jubilance. He recognizes his face. He knows the iconic yellow ribbon. He flashes the Laban sign.

And he’s not even two years old.

Amidst the election frenzy, when we were learning about yellows, oranges, greens, ribbons, check marks, and shaded circles, Heaven was fast learning about his own environment.

A neighbour put up a Noynoy banner and Heaven sees this every single day when he goes out to play.

When we first heard Heaven chant, “Noynoy! Noynoy!”, we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly he picked up a name that his yaya taught him to say. Little did we realize that the name came with a face.

So when Heaven saw two Sundays ago photos of President-elect Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III splashed on the newspaper’s front page, he chanted once again, “Noynoy! Noynoy!”

Before Heaven turns 2, Noynoy will be sworn into office as the 15th leader of this republic. And P.Noy will be Heaven’s president during his crucial, formative years.

In the next six years, Heaven will learn most of the basic skills he will need to survive and be competitive. In the next six years, Heaven will have the building blocks of his personality. In the next six years, Heaven will show glimpses of what kind of a person he will be when he votes for the 18th President of the Republic of the Philippines (if Charter Change doesn’t happen).

As parents and as Filipinos, we hope that the next six years will be a time of great learning for Heaven and the rest of the 2 million babies born each year.

We hope that like Heaven, we can still say “Noynoy” with jubilance, six years hence.