Realities of governance to mellow Rody – Noy

MANILA, Philippines - Dirty Rody? Toughie Rody?

Take it from someone who’s been there, done that: the realities of running the country would tone down tough-guy instincts, according to President Aquino.

“We’re not a dictatorship; we’re bound by laws,” Aquino said in an interview Thursday with editors from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and   Time magazine.

When asked if Rodrigo Duterte’s victory was a repudiation of his governance, Aquino said, “I don’t think so. He might have been presented with facts that he was not aware of during the campaign. Undoubtedly, he has begun to recognize that a certain rhetoric that was allowed in the campaign might not be allowed in governance. He will have to adjust to the realities of governance.”

Duterte has promised to kill thousands of criminals to guarantee law and order, even saying that the fish in Manila Bay would get fat from the sheer number of dead bodies dumped there.

But Aquino expects such violent rhetoric to change as the days pass. He said he also expects the feisty mayor to tread the straight path he had started.

“We are all patriots. It is in our interest to help him. Hopefully, he will do all of the right things that will make it easy for people to support him,” Aquino said.

He added, “As long as we are marching in a direction that uplifts the lot of our people, why should there be any basis for conflict or disagreement?”  

While Aquino refuses to be personally given credit for the robust economic growth that outpaced even China in the first quarter of the year, Aquino believes his six-year administration succeeded in paving the way for a burgeoning economy. He has said that he Philippines is no longer known as the “Sick Man of Asia.”

“I’d like to think that a lot of the problems we had to face have been eliminated. Hence, they’re not only starting off from a higher plane but with a lot of the hindrances (gone)… I will not pass on to the next administration problems that were passed on to me,” Aquino stressed.

During his term, he consistently blamed his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for the state of the nation she left behind. Aquino said he was kept busy untangling the web of corruption Arroyo had put in place in what he has repeatedly dubbed as the “lost decade.”

“We have tried to address everything we could with the time that we had,” Aquino related. 

He also said he did not expect Duterte to change course on the conditional cash transfer or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), because millions of Filipinos have benefited from it.   – With Delon Porcalla