Now that former President Benigno Aquino III is gone, Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, June 27, said his friends and supporters are now “obligated” to tell the truth about his accomplishments.
Aside from regretting the fact that she wasn’t able to visit or talk to him much during the pandemic, Robredo noted that she also regrets not letting Aquino know that she appreciates everything he has done for the country.
“Tingin ko kasi ngayon wala na siya, may obligasyon kami, o tayong nakakaalam, na ipaalam sa tao (I think because now that he’s gone, we have an obligation, those of us who know, to let the people know),” Robredo said during her weekly radio show.
The vice president was referring to Aquino’s accomplishments when he was president from 2010 to 2016. Even if he is already gone, they now feel obligated to show people the truth “every chance” they get.
“Iyon ‘yung kulang na ginawa namin na sana mas nag-exert kami ng effort para ipakita na—hindi naman i-announce iyong lahat ng kanyang accomplishments—pero ipakita lang iyong hindi tama na lumalabas (That’s what lacking in everything we did that I hope we exerted more effort to show—not to announce all his accomplishments—but to clarify these fake allegations),” she added.
READ: ‘History will give him his due,’ Robredo says of accusations against PNoy
After the public learned that the former president died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, June 24, Robredo lamented that the atmosphere in the country was “very different” when Aquino stepped down from office.
“Ang daming disinformation, ang daming mga fake news, na maraming tao hindi okay ‘yung tingin sa kanya dahil napapaniwala (There was so much disinformation, so many fake news, and many people who believe such looked at him differently),” she said.
The vice president was quick to point out that this was not the people’s fault because that was the information available to them on social media. However, she said they should have been the one to address the allegations and clear up the misinformation.
Aquino died due to renal failure secondary to diabetes at the age of 61. A bachelor, he was laid to rest in a tomb now beside his parents, former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino and former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., both hailed as democracy icons.
READ: Former President Noynoy Aquino laid to rest
Robredo, who learned about Aquino’s passing from one of his sisters, gave a quick rundown of his administration’s legacy: ranking 101st from 146th (during the Arroyo administration) in the Corruptions Perception Index by the Transparency International, putting 4.6 million households from 0.79 million under the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, a debt-to-gross domestic product ratio of 44.8 percent from 54.8 percent, foreign direct investments (FDI) worth $28.7 billion from $11.77 billion, and a gross domectic product (GDP) that hit 7.1 percent in 2016 before he stepped down from office.
Almost every economic marker, based on Robredo’s charts, fell during the time of President Duterte. The GDP fell consistently from 2016 to 2019, hitting 6 percent in 2019 before the pandemic. Today, the GDP has contracted by -9.5 percent.
The country is again at the 115th rank in the Corruptions Perception Index and the debt-to-GDP ratio is at 54.5 percent in 2020.
She also cited the infrastructure projects under the Aquino administration, among these are the completion of the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway and Beep Card Implementation under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
Other projects that were completed during the present administration but were Aquino’s initiatives are the Skyway Stage 3, the LRT-2 East Extension Project, the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, the Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal 2, the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway.
Robredo remembered how hardworking Aquino and his steadfast adherence to the rule of law.
She said that he always had a bag with him with the Philippine map, world map, and the map of the West Philippine Sea (WPS), as well as the copy of the Philippine Constitution, local government code, revised penal code, and administrative code, so he’s ready to discuss whatever topic crops up during meetings.