Is it just an Aquino gimmick?

awwww....senator noynoy is going to a spiritual retreat because, he misses his mommy and that, he wants her to contact in heaven...how sweet,

spiritual retreat pala ha?, malay mo magbulong yang si tita habang nagmumuni muni dyan wahahahahaha

What the heck is on the mind of those in Malacañang?

Can't they think of anything to say?

I don't think going on a spiritual retreat is a political gimmick.

Though I'm not related to Noynoy, I can feel the pressure given to him by the people. Running for president requires a lot of decision making, tons of questions to answer and balancing risks. It's a good move for Sen. Aquino to go on a spiritual retreat.

His mother did the same before.

No. A spiritual retreat is obviously not a political gimmick. This process was done previously by the late ex- President Cory Aquino herself when she was endorsed during the 1985 Presidential election between then the late dictator Ferdinard Marcos. To asked for guidance from God to the right path of wisdom and words is probably why Ninoy went to a spiritual retreat than to easily said YES I WANT TO BE YOUR PRESIDENT which to me sounds presumptuous and arrogant in his case.

We all know the palace and the Aquino clan or family have previous dispute when Cory Aquino asked for the resignation of Gloria in 2005 cheating controversy over the Garci scandal. From then on the differences escalated through the years.

I hope if a crisis occurs after he becomes President he does not have to go on a retreat, seek advise from a Carmalite Nun, the Ayala's in Davao or all the other people he has run all over the nation to seek advice from. He does not seem to be his own man to me. Is he able to make decisions on his own. If it is that big of a decision for him to make maybe he should not run. I find it amusing he stops in at the Ayala home in Davao to see if they will support him before he goes to the treat house to seek God's advise. I also find it interesting that he himself said he would not run for the Senate in 2013 because he thought he wanted to get out of politics and into NGO and thus far he had not been successful in securing financial backers for his 2013 Senate race. He himself said he could not get backers other than family for his Senate run in 2013, but his mother dies and people clamor for him to be President. I just do not see how President Aquino's death would make him smarter and a better prepared to be President. Times are different now than when President Aquino was in office. The problems are not the same and everything he does seems to be following in the footsteps of his Mother.

I do not think it is a gimmick.

The reason they say that is because it seems like a foregone conclusion that he will run for president, and they are afraid of that because he has continued his mother's criticism of the present government.

True, even Mar Roxas went on record that he gave way because "Noynoy wants to run for president" when the two of them had a dialogue. he went on to say, on TV, that the decision pained him (although he said the next day that he subsequently felt good about that decision).

I think that Noynoy's desire to go on spiritual retreat is genuine, and not a gimmick. While there is some intention to heed the clamor, he knows that the task ahead is enormous, and he would not want to run, win, and just sully the memory of his parents with bad performance in office.

Noynoy should have held his retreat at Hacienda Luisita together with the farmers.

malacanang always say things so the opposition would look bad. noynoy is still in grief and at the same time has very serious concerns about his political life (to run or not to run?). being a devout catholic (like his late mother), he finds answers in solitude and in silent prayers. he needs this retreat to help him discern whats the right thing to do.

It hardly matters what Aquino's intent is. The Malacañang statement comes across as a comical barb often heard from wide-eyed whispering town gossips huddled under the banana trees, but one must consider the source.

everybody is entitled to their opinion. and it's just their opinion. let's wait and see after sept 9, where Noynoy is about to announce his decision.

Easy. They're afraid right now. They're mudslinging as early as now to throw off the momentum created by the Noynoy-Mar tandem.