Will you wear yellow? Palace explains color controversy

President Aquino, sporting a yellow ribbon, asked Filipinos on Tuesday to wear yellow ribbons to show if they still supported his administration. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Roses are red, violets are blue but what’s this controversy about Aquino’s call to wear yellow?

“We can take it seriously but not too seriously,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a televised briefing.

Coloma clarified that the President mentioned the yellow ribbon only when asked by a businessman during the Daylight Dialogue in Malacañang last Tuesday about what they should do to help him.

“You will have noticed that the President did not really have very specific ideas on his mind…It was just a light moment in the entire dialogue,” he said.

The Secretary said there was no actual “project” asking people to wear yellow ribbons. More importantly, Aquino did not aim to create a “competition of colors.”

On Tuesday, Gregorio Navarro, president of the Management Association of the Philippines, asked Aquino how the Filipino people could assist in government reforms.

For his part, the President said they would come out with a “more detailed list of requests to our bosses.”

He, however, added that wearing a yellow ribbon could be a manifestation of support.

It has since resulted in other groups claiming other colors. Militant groups, for example, have called for “peach ribbons” to call for the impeachment of Aquino.

Others said they would instead wear flag colors or red, white and blue.

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