Parting is such sweet sorrow – Noy

MANILA, Philippines – Exactly a month before he turns over the reins of the presidency to Rodrigo Duterte, President Aquino admitted that parting with his post of six years is “sweet sorrow.”?

“You could say that,” he agreed when asked in an exclusive interview yesterday if leaving the presidency was “sweet sorrow” to him. ?

“If I go home even for a day to Times street now, I might not want to go back to Malacañang anymore,” he said, referring to the home in Quezon City where he grew up and inherited from his parents, the late senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon Aquino.

He said his personal staff member Yolly Yebes has been packing and goes home to Times almost every other day.?“But I have a commitment to the Filipino people, and I will end my term still working hard, up to the last day.?“In a sense, it is sweet sorrow. Sweet because we have an abundance of achievements. I am sure we have exceeded our personal expectations. Sad because I wonder if I should have spent more time getting more people on board the agenda of getting the country to the next highest level.”?He said that when his term ends at noon of June 30, he will go home in the same Toyota SUV which he has been using as President and leasing at his own expense.

The President of the republic riding in a rented car in the last six years? ?“My personal comfort was the least of my priorities from Day One,” he explained.? Asked how he felt with Liberal Party vice presidential bet Leni Robredo’s proclamation Monday, President Aquino said, “I had a big smile on my face as I watched it on TV. She came from one percent in the surveys. And her words ‘may the best woman win’ became a prophecy.”?He isn’t bothered that she didn’t wear yellow to her proclamation. Yellow is the color identified with the Aquinos and the Liberal Party.?“In keeping with her simplicity, I don’t think she wore a new dress.”