THE STATE OF THE HAIRLINE, THE STATE OF THE NATION
MANILA, FEBRUARY 25, 2010
(STAR) By Delon Porcalla - A receding hairline could be a
political statement.
Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said his receding hairline is like the country’s dwindling forest cover, representing the national effort to recover what’s left of dwindling resources wasted by graft and corruption.
“I am not in this (presidential) race because I salivated for the position. There are days when I wake up, and realize my hairline, which is like our forest cover, will not be recovered anymore, especially with the problems that GMA (President Arroyo) will leave behind,” Aquino said.
The 50-year-old bachelor said instead of marrying early and starting his own family, he “opted for the greater benefit of our countrymen even if it caused me harm.”
“Don’t be concerned about my personal interests. At the end of the day, there is the situation of the people (to consider),” he said.
Aquino, the only son of the late former President Corazon Aquino and the martyred former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., vowed to exert all efforts to recover some P150 billion in revenues wasted through graft and corruption.
“Within a year, that is our projected target - we intend to get that P150 billion in tax leakages,” he said.
Aquino said he would apply what he learned in his economics classes at the Ateneo.
He revealed Mrs. Arroyo was his teacher in Ateneo but lamented she didn’t practice what she preached.
“I remember the lessons (in economics) GMA taught me. She was my teacher but apparently she failed to practice what she taught us,” Aquino told the gathering of the People’s Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) at the Hotel Inter-Continental in Makati City yesterday.
With regard to improving the country’s productivity and competence in the age of globalization, Aquino said there has to be a level playing field where each sector has to measure up to international standards.
“First, the example has to be set. If the playing field is level and the determinant of success is purely our skills efficiency, then I will force myself to be that competitive person,” he said.
Aquino said he would raise efficiency standards in government, much like the rigid Japanese standards.
“The Japanese have very rigid systems and their procedures are very efficient. In our case, it is usual that somebody forces his way into the line in order to be ahead of the others. If we open doors to foreign trade, how many firms can withstand this, even in the service sector? Bottom line, with a level playing field, we’ll increase competitiveness,” he said.
Aquino assured the businessmen at the PMAP gathering that he would adopt the carrot-and-stick policy in the strictest interpretation of the phrase. “I will lead by example,” he said.
One example is by increasing the salaries of civil servants.
“You want your men to do this enormous task but then you do not want to increase their salary? Let’s be realistic, you want good people with talent and you want them to have integrity, give them what is due them,” he stressed.
“Raise the bar before they are tempted (to be corrupt),” Aquino said.
NOYNOY: I WON'T LET MY PARENTS DOWN
Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III
vowed not to squander the opportunity to lead the country on the road to
development.
Aquino, the only son of the late former President Corazon Aquino and martyred former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., also said he would not destroy the legacy of his revered parents.
Aquino said he would want to face his parents one day and tell them that he continued their fight for democracy that led to the first EDSA people power revolution in 1986.
Aquino will lead the commemoration of the event today with thousands of his supporters at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Aquino said the LP organized today’s rally as a showcase of the real strength of its campaign – the thousands who demonstrate the true spirit of volunteerism.
“That is the idea of people power. We want to demonstrate it,” he said.
Top entertainers including Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Christian Bautista, Erik Santos, Sponge Cola, Brownman revival and others will enliven the gathering.
Aquino said President Arroyo, who was a product of the second people power revolt, had failed to live up to the spirit of EDSA.
He said Mrs. Arroyo allowed corruption in government and denied the people their due.
Aquino said that if he is elected president, this would be his last campaign and he would retire from politics after his term. He said he wanted to be able to tell himself at that time that the country was better off when he left than when he came in.
“And once God tells me, finished or not finished pass your paper, I can face my parents - looking up, not looking down to be hit on the head - proud to be able to tell them that I continued their fight and finished it, through the help of the people,” Aquino said.
Aquino’s “Yellow Army” of supporters and various groups will gather at Araneta Center today to celebrate the first EDSA revolution, which the senator said was a defining moment in the country’s history.
The event will have the theme “People Power is Equal to Vote Power, learning from the past, fighting for the future,” according to LP spokesman Sen. Francis Pangilinan.
Not to be left behind, the Nacionalista Party (NP) of presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. said they would match Aquino’s yellow army rally by holding a rock concert at the SM Mall of Asia tonight.
Television host Willie Revillame of “Wowowee” will lead the Rockatropa concert and “will paint the town orange,” Villar’s campaign color, the NP said. -With Christina Mendez