EDITORIAL - Restoring public trust

The weather cooperated and yellow confetti, not rain, poured at the inaugural yesterday of the 15th president of the Philippine Republic. Over and over, Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III vowed to deliver on his main campaign promise, which is to reduce corruption. He promised to lead by example and provide a better life for all through good governance. The people are his boss, he said, and his parents his inspiration as he vowed to carry their torch forward.

In the second Aquino administration, the President vowed, people could expect “walang lamangan, walang padrino, at walang pagnanakaw. Walang wang-wang, walang counter-flow, walang tong” — no undue advantage, patronage, thievery, sirens or traffic counter-flow for VIPs, and no police extortion. It was reminiscent of an inaugural promise by another president, to give no special favors to relatives or friends: walang kama-kamag-anak, walang kai-kaibigan.

The opposite of that earlier promise happened, leading to a president’s ouster. Other inaugural promises, with similar themes about good governance, have also been made and broken. Benigno Aquino III vowed yesterday that he would be true to his word. His biggest challenge would be to overcome skepticism and win back public trust in government. It is the same challenge in his promise to make the government an enabler rather than a hindrance to business: investor confidence, shaken in the past years by whimsical policies and a weak regulatory environment, must be restored.

What would make him different from his predecessors? He owes it to his parents, Ninoy and Cory Aquino, the new President said. And he owes it to the millions who dared to dream and voted for him. This brings us to another part of the new President’s speech, which is that he can’t do this alone. The nation is in this journey together, and Benigno Aquino III can use all the help he can get.