Noynoy: Give me time to fix government
By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated June 13, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has appealed to the public to bear with
him and not expect instant solutions to the country’s problems once he assumes office because repairing
decades of damage cannot be done overnight.
“I wish I can do it tomorrow, but I think we cannot solve our country’s problems overnight,” he said. “I wish the
people would give us time. We cannot fix problems acquired over the decades overnight.”
To begin with, he said he is inheriting a government with a budget deficit of P400 billion.
For now, he is focused on convening his cabinet as soon as possible.
“That’s the first priority. After that, I would like to start giving them their marching orders so that by July 1, it is
already a positive action on the problems we want to address,” he said.
Aquino has promised to eradicate corruption in the government, a platform that gained the support of the
majority of the population, as well as the religious and business groups.
His future administration, however, is feared crowded with traditional politicians. Aquino said he would try to
get them to cooperate with him by “sharing with them the vision of the nation with other branches of the
government.”
“We will implore, convince, try to get a consensus that this is the right track that we should all be on, and at
the end of the day, we are subject to the whims and caprices of the electorate,” he said.
“I think I will be able to convince them this is what our people want, and therefore it beholds their own
interest to help me in achieving the aspirations for our people,” he added.
Aquino has also been continually warned that his unhealthy habits —smoking and excessive consumption
of soft drinks —might weaken his health.
Aquino said, however, that he is physically fit because he was able to survive the pressures of the campaign.
“I never got into a physical fitness regime but I practically lasted with one meal a day with 3-4 hours of sleep
everyday. I think this would be a perfect witness to my ability to (withstand) the rigors of such a national
campaign,” he said.
Aquino also insists on living in their family home in Times Street in West Triangle, Quezon City because he
does not have fond memories of Malacañang where he lived as a presidential son in the late 1980s during
the administration of his mother, Corazon Aquino.
He said their Times Street home gives him a sense of normalcy and closeness to the public.
“In fact when my mom was president and I performed some functions, I limited my exposure there,” he said.
“Maybe there really is negative influence there. With due respect, we might really perform bad governance.”
Aquino’s transition team has inspected the Bahay Pangarap in the Malacañang compound and is
considering it as a possible residence for Aquino.
Aquino’s transition team met in the Bahay Pangarap with President Arroyo’s transition team last Friday to
discuss how to fill up the 4,500 government positions that are co-terminus with President Arroyo, whose last
day in office is on June 30.
Both teams agreed it would not be easy to fill up the positions because the functions of all government
offices should not be uninterrupted during the transition of power.
Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza, head of the Arroyo transition team said both teams are considering
retaining some appointees in their positions until replacements have been found.
“We’re looking at some holdovers, especially for those that do not have replacements yet,” Mendoza said.
He said that apart from the 4,500 appointees, around a thousand more are in danger of losing their jobs
because of the reorganization.
These include the entire Malacañang housekeeping staff, including the in-house chefs, some of whom have
been around since the administration of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
“Based on our experience like in my office for instance, there are those who have been around since the
Marcos years. They were extended and carried over,” Mendoza said. “But it all depends on their (Aquino
administration) preferences. Actually in our (Arroyo) regime, we did not replace anyone.”
‘Let’s give him a chance’
Ligayen Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz agrees that Aquino is inheriting tough problems so he needs
Cabinet members and advisers with an upright values system. “I’m sorry I have to say this but if I say
otherwise I would be lying. I do not think he (Aquino) is very brilliant and therefore he really needs advisers
with upright thinking whose values system is sound,” Cruz said in an interview with Bombo Radyo Dagupan.
He said Aquino has good intentions but he needs competence and character to achieve his goals.
“To me that’s a good beginning, the right intention and apparently he wants to straighten crooked ways
happening in our country and I wish him well,” Cruz said. “ I’m trying to be as optimistic as possible. We
have to give him the chance. Let’s hope we will go up. We cannot afford again to be business as usual.”
He was impressed, however, with Aquino’s first press conference after he was proclaimed the winner of the
presidential race.
“But that’s only an interview, mere words. Let’s see in his first 100 days,” Cruz said. - with Marvin Sy, Eva
Visperas
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'I will just fade away'
By Paolo Romero and Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) Updated June 12, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo bade farewell yesterday to the Armed Forces, saying she would “fade
away as old soldiers and old commanders-in-chief do.”
The Armed Forces honored her yesterday with a testimonial parade that included units of the Presidential
Security Group. Highlighting the event was a demonstration of the Army’s skydiving team.
“And so, today, I thank you for your farewell. It has been a great honor to have been your commander-in-chief,
especially during this period of defense reform,” Mrs. Arroyo said in her message after reviewing the troops
in formation, escorted by Armed Forces chief Gen. Delfin Bangit.
“As I fade away as old soldiers and old commanders-in-chief do, soldiers of the Filipino people, I enjoin you
to carry on. Be the soldiers of the Constitution that you have been all these nine years. Thank you very, very
much to all of you,” she said.
She cited the role of the Armed Forces in keeping the nation stable and intact amid efforts by some groups
in the military to overthrow her.
“I thank the Armed Forces of the Philippines for this testimonial review. But more than that, for the last nine
years, when you gave me the best – the best of your efforts, the best of your skills, the best of your sacrifices,
the best of your passion to serve the flag and the constitutional authority,” she said.
The farewell came amid tension between Bangit and incoming commander-in-chief Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III, who has announced his decision to name a new AFP chief.
There was no clear signal yet from Bangit, who worked as Mrs. Arroyo’s aide since she was vice president, if
he would be resigning or retiring.
Mrs. Arroyo said the Armed Forces has become professional and modernized.
She said the military has also been instrumental in helping the country achieve 37 consecutive quarters of
economic growth.
“The Armed Forces has come a long way since January 2001 when I first became your commander-in-chief,
but so has the Philippines itself come a long way since 2001,” she said.
“Time has gratefully erased memories of that moment less than 10 years ago when the nation teetered on
political chaos and financial bankruptcy,” the President said.
“From the first chief of staff in my term to the present chief of staff, each has left his mark to make the
organization stronger and more professional,” she said.
“I’ve seen in each chief of staff with his own style in leadership a progressive advancement toward the
transformation of the Armed Forces, from a fractionalized organization whose members have varying
degrees of politicization to a truly professional course whose loyalty is defined solely by duty to the people
and the Constitution,” she said.
Mrs. Arroyo said it was also during her term that the modernization of the military, increase in the benefits for
soldiers, and defense reforms began.
She also said the military has played a significant role in making the country’s first automated elections
generally peaceful.
Better pay
She said an ordinary soldier now receives nearly double what he or she used to receive in 2009. Soldiers,
she said, now receive bigger hazard pay and subsistence allowance.
She added that because of the salary standardization law that she enacted last year, soldiers would get
another round of increase starting July 1 this year.
She said the annual pay increases for military personnel will continue until 2012.
She said she has also ensured that more and more soldiers’ families are able to own homes. Widows and
orphans are entitled to scholarships and trainings.
“At the very center of defense reforms is the great Filipino soldier. I see the human being and even the
fiercest of our soldiers. I have seen the soldier on the front line prepared to offer his or her life in war or
sacrificing to uplift people in times of need, even as he or she himself or herself also struggles to make
ends meet especially, for instance, a 40-year-old soldier who cares for his family of five and deserves more
dignity,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
“I know of the lonely days and fortitude of our soldiers in the field, in the battlefield, who send humble pay to
the families as source of love and hope. Within the nine years of my presidency therefore, we have
increased the basic pay of our soldiers five times,” she said.
Grateful Bangit
Bangit, in his speech, said Mrs. Arroyo may be the most maligned president the country has ever had, but
she is also the best.
“She gave the AFP the support that it needed - additional personnel, salary increase, modernization fund for
our Armed Forces, and even supported our stand that insurgency can be defeated not by arms alone, but by
winning the hearts and minds of our people,” Bangit said.
“She may have been the most criticized president. But opinion from people who do not know you, who do not
know how you work and what your visions are, is understandable. And so we give them the right to express
their opinions,” Bangit said.
He praised the President for inspiring the AFP to achieve more for peace and development.
“I have worked with the President even when she was still vice president. I had the opportunity of observing
her in good times and in bad, in the high pitch and in the low pitch of her voice. I have personally seen how
she decided in matters dealing with the Armed Forces. And I can personally attest to her concern for the
soldiers,” Bangit said.
“She was the commander-in-chief who insisted on visiting our soldiers amid too many concerns, forgetting
that she, too, is a human who gets tired and needed sleep,” he said.
Bangit said Mrs. Arroyo wanted to get things done as quickly as possible because she didn’t want the
soldiers to wait.
He also said the President acknowledges the soldiers’ sacrifices, treats them honorably, and respects her
troops’ opinions on how they intend to get things done.
“It is probably no secret that she is strict and would always demand the best in you. I have received her ire for
more times than I could count,” he said.
“But at the end of it all, a leader sees what we do not see in our shortsightedness. Later on, we realize the
wisdom of the decision. And we learn. I hope you also have the opportunity to learn the same from your
superiors,” he said.
He also said he learned from Mrs. Arroyo how to be friendly without stooping down or lowering his standards.
“In the midst of the scandals hounding her administration, while militants were burning her effigy on the
streets, she was working. That’s where you see the level of dedication,” he said.
“I must admit I understand her now more than ever,” Bangit said.
He also said he is not worried at all by the impending loss of his position as military chief. He also said he
doesn’t think Mrs. Arroyo is worried about the end of her term.
“To cease to enjoy the honor that used to be accorded to you, I have no such worry. We give our best
contribution wherever we are. Finished or unfinished, we go when we must,” Bangit said.
He also called on the next administration to continue what has already been started by the Arroyo
administration.
“Those who would inherit this administration would have their own time to continue what was started. As
professional soldiers, you will and you should obey them. But until they have exceeded the concern, the
respect, and the support that President Arroyo has accorded the AFP, they would not be able to erase her
contributions,” Bangit said.
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