MANILA, Dec. 11 (PNA) –President Benigno S. Aquino III wants Filipinos to remember his presidency as a story of overcoming adversities, when he steps down from power next year.
During this year’s Bulong Pulungan Forum at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila Hotel on Friday, the President was asked about his legacy to the Filipino people.
Being the son of a former president, he said he was able to observe his mother work from a distance and he had some knowledge of the demands of the presidency.
“But having even that inkling was not enough for all of the challenges that we had to surpass,” he told participants of the forum.
The Chief Executive recalled that his administration has so far faced challenges that, in most instances, occurred during the Christmas season, among them Typhoons Pablo and Sendong, supertyphoon Yolanda, the Zamboanga siege and the Bohol earthquake.
“Now, if we look at all of these things that we’ve had to undertake… I’m hoping that people will say: Look at the challenges that we had to undergo as a people and how we overcame them,” he noted.
“And if there’s a future challenge, then perhaps they will be able to say: We will also surmount this in the same way that we managed to surmount that which we thought was insurmountable.”
President Aquino said he draws inspiration from his parents’ accomplishments.
Citing an example, he said his father, the late senator Bengino Aquino, Jr., had no access to the media or had very limited access to people in his more than seven years of detention during the Marcos regime.
“But he had to deliver the message passing it through mimeograph sheets, Xerox sheets, word of mouth. I think his efforts and his actions contributed to the point that we got in EDSA. And he said something like, I think he was quoting the Bible, ‘If the time is not right, a thousand prophets do not make a difference, but if the time is right, not a single prophet is necessary,'” he said.
President Aquino attends the Bulong Pulungan forum every year, answering questions that range from his personal life to his experiences and insights as president. (PNA)