Aquino status quo

Don’t shoot the messenger, as one popular saying goes. Perhaps President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III can invoke this idiomatic expression now that he is under fire anew for turning into a political campaign rally his address before the Filipino community in Rome last Friday.

Instead of opting to become the bearer of bad news to his audience of Filipinos wanting to hear about refreshing developments in our country, President Aquino thought it best to speak ill of each of the rivals of his anointed successor in office. So who’s being negative?

Although he did not mention names, President Aquino’s obvious pitch for the candidacy of his Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Manuel Roxas II before the Filipino community – to put it gently – was in bad taste. The presidential pitch for Roxas was by taking digs and potshots at the other presidential bets.

In a pretext of trying to guide Filipino voters in examining each of the candidates running in the May, 2016 presidential elections, Mr.Aquino naturally picked the most damaging issues attached to each of Roxas’ rivals.

P-Noy obliquely made reference to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who was tagged in alleged overpriced projects in Makati City while the latter was mayor for 19 years.

Then, Mr. Aquino noted the supposed failure of frontrunning presidential bet Sen. Grace Poe to come up with specific platforms to bring about her TV ad campaign “bagong umaga” to bring a new morning.

P-Noy’s diatribes also hit tough-talking Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte over the latter’s vow “to kill all those who oppose” him if elected president.

Even cancer-stricken Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was not spared by P-Noy’s attacks over her announced plans to use social media to drum up support for her campaign. “Maybe she is not aware that you cannot build roads or feed the hungry using only Facebook,” P-Noy crowed.

Poe topped the most recent Pulse Asia survey conducted from Oct. 18 to 29 when she emerged as the most preferred presidential candidate for the 2016 election. The neophyte senator got 39% of respondents; Binay ranked second with 24%: Roxas placed third with 21%; while Santiago ranked fourth with 11%. The survey was held weeks before Duterte declared his candidacy and before a Commission on Elections division disqualified Poe for failing to meet the 10-year residency requirement.

Except for his anointed one, P-Noy swore none of these presidential wannabes fits to succeed him when he steps down from office in June, 2016. As far as President Aquino is concerned, the rest of presidential candidates are not as unassailable as his anointed one.

With less than seven months into office, the Chief Executive apparently wanted to show he is no lame duck to be at the receiving end of anti-administration attacks by Roxas’ rivals. The presidential campaign is just starting and it would intensify as the elections draw near. Since he is into it, we can expect more of these P-Noy counter-attacks.

The President’s attitude comes deeply drawn from his own fears that he already publicly admitted during the same address in Rome. In fact, the Chief Executive predicted he would have to continue his “fight against corruption” even after his presidency.

“The fight is not yet over. All the corrupt I made accountable will likely strike back when I step down from office to sow fear on people with good intentions,” P-Noy told his Filipino audience in Rome.

Is he speaking about karma? Or, is it based on the fact that his last two predecessors ended up in detention?

Anyway, Mr. Aquino himself averred: “I am ready to face this because it is clear that if I allowed the status quo to prevail, nothing will happen in our country.”

Impeachment moves were previously initiated in the 16th Congress against P-Noy following the Supreme Court (SC) ruling that declared illegal and unconstitutional his administration’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Left-wing lawmakers added as grounds to impeach President Aquino his administration’s entering into an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the United States.

But the impeachment move was killed before it could gather steam at the pro-administration-controlled House of Representatives.

There were also failed attempts to indict President Aquino as Commander-in-chief following the bloody “Oplan Exodus” in January this year. This was after P-Noy knowingly allowed his “best friend,” erstwhile Philippine National Police director-general Alan Purisima to carry out this mission even while the latter was still serving the six-month suspension on a graft case before the Ombudsman.

But as a sitting President, he continues to enjoy immunity from suit until the end of his office at noon of June 30, 2016.

Thus, it is but natural for the incumbent President to make sure he would have his back protected once he steps down from power.

By getting himself directly and actively involved in the political campaign attacks, President Aquino is opening himself to equal, if not more than retaliatory strikes from arch rivals of his anointed presidential candidate.

As the highest elected official of the land, partisan politics should be the last of priorities of President Aquino. Lacking empathy, President Aquino further fails to connect with the Filipino people to make them feel he could be and act as the “father of the nation.”

Perhaps, this is what we get for electing into office a bachelor-President who has no sense of fatherhood.

While he is already an outgoing President, isn’t it more proper for him to spend his remaining term to legacy mode rather than continue with his petty partisan pursuits? Well, that is a wish more than anything else.

At this late stage of the outgoing administration, there is no official word yet from the Palace on how they would ensure the smooth transfer of power to the next leader after Mr. Aquino at the Office of the President. By this time, there should be a transition committee to perform this specific task.

Or, is it because the incumbent administration officials at the Palace are too confident they would remain in power and continue with the Aquino status quo if Roxas wins the presidency next year?