Noy seeks people’s trust, support

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino rallied the people yesterday to continue to trust him and his administration as he stressed that the reforms the government is undertaking were not for personal gain but for the greater good.

“I know that the 2016 elections are in the minds of some. Indeed, the time will soon come when the straight path will choose a new candidate. I hope it isn’t me,” he quipped.

In an “agenda-setting with dialogue partners” at Malacañang, Aquino drew the line between the straight path and those politicking this early and said they continued to maximize their focus and efforts to improve the people’s wellbeing.

“We will not stray from the straight path; our attention is not on politics but on results; not on noise and empty promises, but on concrete solutions to the problems of our bosses; not ambition, but on public service and true love for country,” Aquino said in the presence of Congress leaders, political allies and other “reformists” and like-minded people during the dialogue.

Apart from this, Aquino asked the people to remind everyone of the positive results that had come from the straight path.

“Let me repeat: We are in the right; the benefits of treading the straight path are clear. It will not be difficult to convince our countrymen of the same. If other beliefs and attitudes prevail, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Perhaps we have been too shy to deliver good news to our bosses. Perhaps we ourselves are lacking in that enthusiasm,” Aquino said.

“When there are any who continue to doubt, let us be the first to approach them and explain. When we are being rained upon by lies, let us fight this with truth and justice. It is only right for us to take the lead in spreading the news of our successes. If we shy away from this, the straight path will indeed be drowned by noise and lies,” Aquino added.

He delivered the speech as he and his administration faced severe criticisms for the problems being experienced by the people including energy woes, port congestion, rising prices, traffic and transportation problems like the Metro Rail Transit 3, lack of infrastructure and criminality, among others.

He outlined the various measures being done by the administration to address these issues.

“There are no tactical alliances here; we are of the same spirit. At no time have we ever subscribed to the politics of addition as true governance – none of us are willing to sacrifice our principles, and ally with those who stand diametrically opposed to us, just out of the selfish desire to ensure the success of our personal ambition,” Aquino said.

He said many of those who attended the event indeed dedicated their entire careers to reform.

“All of us – colleagues in the executive branch, allies in Congress including members of the responsible opposition, partymates, coalition-mates and partners in civil society – are bound together not by personalities, not by the color of the vests we wear in the campaign, not by slogans – but by principles. We are united by the belief that we are bound together by our aspirations for the country,” Aquino said.

Aquino pointed out his administration did not “get this far“ by embodying Juan Tamad (Lazy John), who sat beneath a tree, saw its fruits and waited for these to fall into his mouth.

“We achieved all of this because we worked hard towards a single direction,” Aquino said.

“My belief, my principle is still as strong as ever: The Filipino is worth dying for, worth living for, and definitely worth fighting for. I have faith that, whatever the posturing or lies of others, our bosses will see the difference between those making empty promises, in order to take advantage of them later on, and those who are ready to fight for them,” he said.

The President said they would just have to renew their efforts everyday to keep the people’s trust.

“We need to double our work. We need to impress on our countrymen that this straight and righteous path – this agenda of reform and of true and honest governance, this is the only way to ensure that we continue on our journey to fulfill all our aspirations for our country,” Aquino said.

Continuous work

Aquino said he was called in 2010 to begin the much-needed transformation in the country but noted they were able to achieve what others did not.

“We not only did what we had to do, we went beyond what was expected of us. We not only made the impossible, possible – we made these victories the new normal,” Aquino said, citing the administration’s fight against corruption, improved social services like the conditional cash transfer program and the growing economy that were driving Filipinos to go back home from abroad, along with infrastructure built and jobs created.

“Before, Filipinos had grown indifferent, and they had no desire to help shape society. Now, democracy is well and truly alive: Filipinos are eager to speak up, because they know their voices are heard, and they know that the government listens to them and attends to their needs,” he said.

Aquino said Filipinos must continue to work as simply beginning change would not be enough, like when he was called to lead after the Arroyo administration.