President Aquino yesterday gathered members of his Cabinet and allies
in Congress to encourage them to continue the reforms and
accomplishments undertaken under his administration while saying he
hopes he won’t have to be the one continuing to lead the reforms after
2016.
In his speech during the Agenda Setting Dialogue with Partners in
Malacañang, the President said that those asking who will continue to
lead the reforms undertaken under his “tuwid na daan” (straight path)
should realize that “walang ibang sagot sa tanong na iyan kundi ‘tayong
lahat ang magpapatuloy nito (there is no other answer to that question
but ‘all of us will’).”
The President told the gathering that included senators led by Senate
President Franklin Drilon and members of the House led by Speaker
Feliciano Belmonte Jr. that he understands that many are already
thinking about the 2016 elections and who will be the administration
candidate.
“Darating po ang panahon para sa pagpili natin ng kandidatong
magpapatuloy ng ating tuwid na landas. Sana po, hindi po ako ang
kandidatong iyan (The time will come for choosing the candidate who will
continue our straight path. I hope I would not be that candidate),”
Aquino said.
But he said he was confident that Filipinos would vote wisely in 2016.
“Tiwala po ako, maiski anong panlilinlang o pagpostura, makikita ng
ating mga boss kung sino ang ampaw at nais silang pagsamantalahan;
masusuri nila kung sino ang talagang handa silang ipaglaban (I am
confident that despite the deceit and posturing, people will be able to
see who are ‘ampaw’ and are planning to take them for a ride. People
will see who will stand up for them).”
In his 30-minute speech at the gathering, Aquino also touted the
accomplishments of his government which he said was accomplished with
the support of the leaders of his Cabinet and allies in Congress.
He said his administration was able to address the classroom backlog
in three years as well as textbook and armchair backlogs for public
schools.
The President also cited infrastructure projects that had been
completed such as the Aluling Bridge in Ilocos Sur, the Ternate-Nasugbu
Road, the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project in Iloilo, as well as the
start of the Skyway Stage 3 project.
He noted the benefits of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program
to the four million households in the marginalized sector as well as
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are opting to return home from
abroad because there are job opportunities available in the country.
Aquino also lauded the Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights as
well as Filipino soldiers who have fought against the rogue forces of
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) during the Zamboanga siege
last year.
“Ang mga tagumpay pong ito, kinaya natin; bakit hindi kinaya ng iba?
Hindi lang natin ginawa ang dapat gawin; nilagpasan pa natin ito. Hindi
lang po natin ginawang posible ang imposible; ginawa pa nating normal at
maaasahan ang mga tagumpay (We have made all these success stories
possible, why were others not able to do it? We have not only done what
we have to do, we were able to surpass it. We made the impossible
possible),” Aquino said.
Aquino however said that despite successes in reforms, more still have to be done in the last few years of his administration.
On the looming power shortage, Aquino said he has asked Congress for a
joint resolution to address the looming power shortage in the summer of
2015. The joint resolution would give the Executive branch the
authority to increase generation capacity.
He also said port congestion is being addressed as the Christmas season nears.
Aquino meanwhile appealed to commuters suffering from long queues and
overloading in the Metro Rail Transit (MRT)-3, noting that
rehabilitation and improvement of the MRT-3 is on the way.
