EDITORIAL - Lust for power

Since the regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the desire to hold on to power forever, or even for a few more years beyond limits set by law, has been the undoing of presidents.

One of the reasons for Benigno S. Aquino III’s landslide win in 2010 was the perception that like his late mother Corazon, he has no lust for power and would peacefully, willingly, wholeheartedly hand over the presidency to whoever is elected to succeed him, as scheduled, not one minute more or less, at noon of June 30, 2016.

This perception has been one of the strengths of the Aquino presidency, giving credibility to his avowed commitment to the straight path. His refusal to endorse Charter change, which is needed to lift his single-term limit, reinforced the perception that his actions are not meant to perpetuate himself in power.

That perception is now being shaken by the idea floated by certain members of the President’s official family and expressed on social media that he might seek a second term. Instead of denying the idea outright, the President’s own spokesman said the Chief Executive listens to what the “bosses” want. Whether the “bosses” refer to the people or to members of his Liberal Party is unclear.

Perhaps some of the President’s aides think floating the idea would prevent him from turning into a lame duck in his final years. Critics also sneer that the idea is a sign of desperation on the part of the LP, whose presumptive standard bearer has consistently languished near the bottom of the heap in surveys on possible presidential candidates in 2016.

Floating the idea may be of some use for the LP, but it can only be bad for a president who cannot afford divisive distractions from the many urgent tasks ahead in his final two years. The thought of amending the Constitution to lift term limits killed Charter change efforts during the presidencies of Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. President Aquino is fully aware of this.

Today it can prove fatal to the prospect of amending restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution before 2016 – or is this the real objective in floating the idea? There are other ways of doing this without the destabilizing impact of lifting a president’s term limit. When it comes to term extension, President Aquino must unequivocally tell his “bosses” – the people, not his party mates – that he is not interested.