Next president must fulfill promises – Noy

STA. ROSA, Laguna, Philippines – Taking up the cudgels for administration bet Manuel Roxas II, President Aquino took potshots at his friend, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who offered to resign if he cannot eradicate crime within six months after he wins the presidency.

“A leader who fails to fulfill his promise cannot pass on his job to the vice president and say ‘Bahala na si Batman (Leave it to Batman, a colloquialism meaning leave it to God)”, Aquino told local Liberal Party leaders here on Thursday.

The President did not name names but he was obviously referring to Duterte, standard-bearer of PDP-Laban.

“You are the chief executive of your city. You know that every day there are challenges and that there are times that you succeed and times that you don’t,” Aquino said.

He said the presidency is similar to marriage.

“If you become president, your contract with the people is for six years, including the good and bad times,” Aquino said.

He reminded presidential candidates that every day there is a major decision that has to be made.

Aquino said he invested time, blood, sweat and tears and even his life to succeed as the country’s leader and that like most Filipinos, he would be affected by the decisions of the next president and would have to speak out even if he was no longer a candidate himself.

Meanwhile, the President also took a swipe at Sen. Grace Poe for saying during the second presidential debate that the chief executive should be in a secure place in times of severe crisis. 

Poe said Aquino did not trust Roxas enough as interior secretary because the President himself had to go to Zamboanga City when it was seized by members of the Moro National Liberation Front.

“But I saw with my own mother (former president Corazon Aquino), during the time of coups d’etat and various challenges, that the president must lead from the front. This was what we showed during the Zamboanga City siege. The people must be able to see that their president will not turn his back on them,” Aquino said.