‘It doesn’t help people at all if the President says that Sen. Dick Gordon is overweight or Sen. Ping Lacson’s hair is weird, so these midnight ramblings do not contribute much to the leadership that people need.’

BY tomorrow, Metro Manila and its nearby areas are back in General Community Quarantine status until the end of September. At this point, no one can be certain of what movements are allowed under this GCQ status as the authorities have a penchant for tweaking the regulations every time it is imposed. Make no mistake, cases are still rising and the positivity rate is still well above 20 percent, but yes, people can now go back outside. Judging from the data released by the DOH in the past two weeks, the enhanced community quarantine had very little effect on the spread of COVID-19.

All our policy makers had to do was to look at the experience of other countries to learn that a lockdown, by itself, will not be a sufficient measure. But as usual, the lockdown was just a lockdown, without increasing testing and contact tracing capabilities. Coupled with news that we will now accept inbound flights from 10 countries previously on the restricted list, then it seems that our government feels like tempting fate a little bit more. It’s a delicate balance, one has to admit; finally, stranded OFWs from these countries will be able to come back to the Philippines. On the other hand, it is very possible that other travelers might be asymptomatic, and the fact that the implementation of testing and contact-tracing measures does not inspire much confidence is also a valid reason to be against the said policy.

We’ve long let go of the assumption that these policy changes are driven by science, given the dismal performance of the government’s pandemic response. One of the IATF’s advisers even mentioned on social media that for those in the “lower risk groups,” the pandemic is “pretty much over on an individual risk level.” I have no idea what this guy is talking about, as even vaccinated folks I know are not letting their guard down when it comes to this pandemic. At a time where people are expressing their condolences for the death of family, friends, and acquaintances, it is very, very, difficult to accept that the pandemic is over on the individual level.

The statement is quite irresponsible, and downplaying these cases and the overall situation is, in no uncertain terms, criminal. Another fanatic exhorted people to “stop focusing on the negative” when it came to the death toll due to COVID-19, since 1.8 million people recovered anyway. The person promptly faced outraged users whose family members and friends succumbed to the deadly virus. It is perhaps symptomatic of the administration’s attitude towards trying to contain this pandemic and stop the spread; dismissive, “puwede na ‘yan” or worse, just thoughtless. It seems that policy is being driven just by “let’s survive this” without much thought about the rest of the country.

These recent bi-weekly appearances by President Duterte are not much help, seeing that the airtime is used mainly for hitting back at political opponents. It doesn’t help people at all if the President says that Sen. Dick Gordon is overweight or Sen. Ping Lacson’s hair is weird, so these midnight ramblings do not contribute much to the leadership that people need. If anything, they lend to the growing frustration that we are indeed just afloat with no sense of direction, at the mercy of this or that whim when it comes to the responses being made. In a word, if the Philippines were a ship, it would be rudderless.

‘It seems that the COA
and the Senate have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these procurement contracts, and already we see the earmarks of irregularity.’

IN the first part of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem the Divine Comedy, he speaks about the nine circles of hell, where those who have shunned spiritual values are doomed to inhabit once their mortal lives are over. The first circle is described as limbo, the second circle as lust, the third circle for gluttons, the fourth circle for greed. The fifth circle is for the wrathful, the sixth for the heretics; the violent kind are meant to end up in the seventh, while those who defraud others go straight to the eighth. The ninth and last circle is reserved for those who commit treachery against those close to them. One wonders, in the light of recent events, if those who dip their hands in public coffers at the time of the pandemic will end up in the fourth or eight circle of hell.

The numbers are staggering; media reports that no less than P8 billion worth of contracts are the subject of the ongoing Senate Blue Ribbon investigation on the funds involving the Department of Health, contracts that were allegedly cornered by one corporation. Funds badly needed for sending help to our health workers, buying the necessary equipment for public hospitals, among others, went into buying overpriced face masks and face shields. It seems that the COA and the Senate have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these procurement contracts, and already we see the earmarks of irregularity.

To begin: a company with barely a million pesos in authorized capital stock was able to secure contracts in the hundreds of millions. Knowing that payment for supplies in government comes long after a contract is fulfilled, where did this company get the funds to buy these items, knowing that the company’s assets are limited? Either they were able to secure a loan from a bank (which is highly unlikely, as the company was newly registered and again had very little assets to its name) or the corporation was meant to just be a paper vehicle.

Speaking of bank loans, a compliance officer with a blindfold on would easily have spotted the deficiencies in the vetting of the PS-DBM under Lloyd Christopher Lao. If I recall correctly, even applying for a PhilGEPS (Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System) accreditation (which is a prerequisite for participating in bidding for government contracts) requires the submission of corporate identity documents such as the certificate of incorporation, articles of incorporation, and general information sheet, all issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. These are not meant to be mere paper requirements — the folks at PS-DBM are supposed to evaluate all of them along with the other documentary requirements. Another requisite is having participated in other similar projects from other government agencies or offices — this means that the track record of the bidder is quite important.

Alas, all of these (and more) were clearly disregarded by Lao in assessing the fitness of this company to win these contracts, as evidenced by his admissions during the Senate hearing last week. A simple Google search on the names of one of the company’s incorporators plus the name of the corporation instantly yields a news report about a probe conducted by the Taiwanese authorities. Instead, the contract to the company was signed and stamped without batting an eyelash, it seemed.

I expect more revelations in the coming hearings, knowing that Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon has latched on to the scent of irregularity. As others would tell you, it’s hard to shake off Sen. Drilon when he has taken his shovel to start digging. It seems that Senators Ping Lacson and Richard Gordon are also on the hunt, never mind that some folks attribute this to politicking. Sen. Risa Hontiveros deserves a pat on the back for being on the case since 2020, when she first questioned these contracts.

Hopefully in due time (read: as soon as possible) we see the breadth and width of the stink surrounding these contracts. The Filipino people deserve no less. And by the time this is over, perhaps a tenth circle of Hell will open for these opportunists and thieves who dare take advantage of their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of Filipinos who are suffering enough.

‘The reaction of the administration to the findings by COA is quite indicative of their overall attitude towards checks and balances–they are not to be questioned in any manner, shape or form.’

THE hissy fit thrown by officials of the Duterte administration (and the President himself) is ludicrous but unsurprising. It’s exactly the sort of behavior we would expect from one whose hand was caught inside the cookie jar. As none of these folks are new to government service, I am certain that they know exactly what the mandate of the Commission of Audit is, and what its processes are. These outbursts are nothing more than an attempt to solicit sympathy from the public. As they say, if you do not have the facts, then you pound on the table to distract.

For starters, every government department, agency, or bureau is audited by COA. While the annual audit report (as the name suggests) is released yearly, the process is actually a back-and-forth with your agency’s resident auditor. Disbursement and other supporting documents are regularly submitted to the resident auditor, especially if an audit observation memo is issued. There are many opportunities for an agency or department to provide supporting documents, and usually there is an exit conference prior to the posting of the AAR. You can take a look for yourself, as AARs are found on COA’s website, as this has been the practice for many years now.

You’ll also find that there is a corresponding “management response” to the observations listed, which is evidence that the agency or office being audited has been given the chance to provide its replies. The current AAR also references unresolved observations from previous years, if any, making these easy to track. Let us also remember that admin and finance teams of departments and agencies did not come down from yesterday’s shower of rain; most of them are career bureaucrats who know these processes inside and out from long years of experience. I’m quite certain that these folks are likewise cringing at the overly dramatic protestations of their bosses but will never utter these sentiments out loud for fear of reprisal.

I do agree that while the reported observations of COA sound especially egregious in light of the poor pandemic response of government, the COA did not apportion any blame or criminal intent in these findings. As pointed out by COA Chair Michael Aguinaldo, the Commission “observes and recommends” actions to be taken to correct these deficiencies.

In my research for this piece, I have yet to find any confirmation that a dreaded Notice of Disallowance in relation to the DOH expenditures in question, which means that the DOH still has the opportunity to keep providing supporting documents, even for the next year’s audit report.

This cavalier attitude is especially grating and all the more flagrant given that people have been clamoring for a better response to the COVID-19 pandemic from our executives.

These observations seem extraordinarily wasteful given that “we are short on funds” seems to be the favorite refrain of officials whenever government support is required; case in point, people have been bemoaning the lack of an effective contract tracing system, only to find out (again, courtesy of COA) that the Department of Interior and Local Government failed to utilize a substantial portion of the funds allocated for that very purpose.

Meanwhile, back in March, the DILG was all over the place in asking for more funds.

The reaction of the administration to the findings by COA is quite indicative of their overall attitude towards checks and balances–they are not to be questioned in any manner, shape or form. They seem to forget–or they just do not care for–the time-honored principle that public service is a public trust, and part of that trust is ensuring that all public funds under your care are to be spent judiciously and prudently. These funds come from the taxes of every contributing Filipino–be it a laborer, fast food employee, or corporate CEO.

‘…workers will continue to throw caution to the wind, walk long distances without public transportation, say a prayer that they will be spared of illness — because the family’s survival depends on it.’

THE administration has been trying to assuage the fears of people by reiterating that the recent enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will not be extended (thus far). According to the National Economic Development Agency, the Philippine economy could potentially lose P150 billion every week that NCR and its environs remain under ECQ. That’s a staggering figure for most of us ordinary folks to even imagine, and more concerning when you think about the number of families who survive on daily wages.

But, as always, the country and its citizens are caught between a rock and a hard place.

We all want this virus to go away — but the truth of the matter is, most Filipinos cannot afford to stay home. A year-and-a-half into the COVID-19 pandemic, this should already be crystal clear to our government; that any lockdown should be supported by a reasonable amount of assistance given. Otherwise, people will just be left to brave the elements on their own, as the need to provide for their families is a much urgent concern. We see this every day — workers will continue to throw caution to the wind, walk long distances without public transportation, say a prayer that they will be spared of illness — because the family’s survival depends on it. Understand what ordinary Filipinos are saying: we have no choice.

While experts recognize that lockdowns can help slow the spread of the virus, it’s not the silver bullet that is needed to alleviate the situation we are in. In fact, there seems to be no silver bullet to end this pandemic, and it is foolhardy to think that one exists. Instead, the trio of test, trace, and vaccinate (as very nicely explained in the Singapore government’s information campaign for its own citizens and residents) seems to be working for other countries. The way I understand it, lockdowns are intended to buy us time to increase our health care facilities, testing capacity, vaccination rates. A year-and-a-half later, can we confidently say that we have done all of those?

As someone said in frustration, August 2021 feels exactly like March 2020, when we first dealt with ECQ. Another friend in the medical profession described it as “running in place,” where nothing seems to improve policy-wise after every surge. Despite what mouthpieces say about manageable hospital capacity, the situation on the ground belies every assurance that our hospitals can still take in patients. One doctor shared on social media that their patients are waiting out on the street to be admitted — in cars, ambulances, or out on the street in makeshift beds. You’ve only to go to the hospital accounts on social media to see the notices — full. Nearing capacity. Over capacity. Government’s figures do not stand a chance against these powerful images and indications of reality.

As always, government has to strike a balance between two contending forces — allowing a more lenient quarantine status to allow the economy to recover, even in the face of these rising COVID numbers, and with the continuing threat of the Delta (and just recently, the Lambda) variant. It’s a very delicate balance, with thousands of lives at stake. What will be their next move?

‘This is another ECQ season that nobody wants, and we hope that this will not be the last in the longest lockdown on Earth.’

TIME seems to be in an endless loop when you are trying to survive through a pandemic, especially in the Philippines. Once again, the National Capital Region is under the tightest of restrictions. Cases and positivity rates are up once again, possibly driven by the scary Delta variant of COVID-19. The bad news is, perhaps we may never know the true extent of the spread of the Delta variant, as it requires samples to be sent for genome sequencing to the Philippine Genome Center. Sadly, the current capacity of the Center only allows it to sequence a small percentage of the positive cases. (On a related note: I hope our lawmakers remember the PH Genome Center and allocate more budget for its improvement. Just another one of those non-sexy but scientific capacities that we ignored until we realized too late that it is very significant.)

The only silver lining this time around is that some lead time was given by the end of July, leading to the actual implementation of the enhanced community quarantine. Of course, the succeeding days were marked by inconsistencies in the rules to be followed, especially when it came to the allowed movement of authorized persons outside of residence. These flip-flops cause confusion among the populace, who are well-meaning and want to follow the rules, but are usually left scratching their heads due to insufficient or inaccurate information doled out by talking heads. A year and five months since the declaration of the first ECQ, and they still haven’t gotten this right.

Friends and acquaintances who run businesses are worried of more disastrous effects if the ECQ is extended beyond two weeks. Apparently, most employers were quite generous with support packages for their employees back in 2020, because of cash earned from a profitable 2019. The year 2021 is a different scenario: with profits bottoming out and constant expenses, very few can afford to sustain giving support to their employees. One friend of mine also complained that operating expenses have shot up because of regular testing: according to him, he has spent a little over P300,000 for testing in order for his team of three to continue working. It’s a struggle to earn enough to cover salaries and other expenses, let alone make any profit for a rainy day.

The chaotic scenes in some vaccination centers are symptomatic of people’s fear of being unable to earn a living; if you remember, people showed up in droves after President Duterte himself said that unvaccinated people will be brought back to their homes if found on the street. The administration fobs this off on fake news that supposedly circulated about unvaccinated people disqualified from receiving aid, but we all know that the President himself uttered these words himself. So yes, the President’s words do matter when it comes to public discourse, which make these attempts to pass these utterances off as jokes all the more frustrating.

The additional complication is that election season is upon us, even if the official campaign period is six months away. Everyone and their uncle will already be busy with their election/reelection efforts, and those in appointive positions might already be looking for softer landings outside of government. At best, we can hope that there are some brave souls left whose focus is to continue to push efforts to improve our vaccination rates, our hospital capacities, our equipment inventories. It sounds like a broken record, it’s true; but the need to repeat will not be necessary if citizens only see that these measures have been actively taken and implemented by the administration. This is another ECQ season that nobody wants, and we hope that this will not be the last in the longest lockdown on Earth.

‘To the last, President Duterte displayed his mistaken belief that the arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines is ineffectual, because China did not participate. Of course, the only other entity that shares his belief is China…’

THE sitting President’s final State of the Nation Address is a swan song of sorts — while he or she still has a year to go in the six-year term, no other speech henceforth will command the same level of national attention than the SONA. While the inaugural in 2022 will certainly stop traffic, to turn a phrase, the outgoing President will play more of a secondary role, relinquishing the highest office in the land to the President-Elect at high noon. While one year is still a fairly long time, attention will move further away from Malacañan Palace; elected officials, especially those seeking reelection or a higher post, will shift to their election bids full time after the filing of certificates of candidacy in October. Christmas will then roll around, and you have a short lull before campaign season officially begins in February 2022.

The first 20 minutes of President Duterte’s SONA went well: he enumerated (as expected) the achievements of his administration, rattling off initiatives like free education, universal healthcare, free irrigation, and perhaps his most favorite: the war on drugs. He also thanked the private sector, the country’s international development partners as well as the local government units for their cooperation and contribution to the pandemic response; this recognition is very much deserved.

The President also mentioned two priority bills aimed to strengthen his relationship with the military and the police: his pitch to provide free legal assistance to members of the AFP and the PNP who face prosecution for the “performance of their duties” as well as a bill for the pension, separation, and retirement of uniformed personnel. It sounds like a continued pitch to stay in the good graces of the uniformed establishment, given that there was no mention of where the President intends to source the budget for such initiatives (I suppose that’s up to Congress and the Finance department to figure out.)

The President also went for the easy wins: longer passport validity, addressing the backlog for the issuance of driver’s licenses, as well as the national ID system. He did go off script several times, especially to talk about why the communists are bad, bad people. And they must be earning billions because they are able to send their children to European universities. It seems, five years later, President Duterte is still very much fixated on communist rebels, which is quite strange for a supposedly “spent force.” Of course, the question to be asked is this: despite this administration’s intense focus on ending the insurgency, why are they still a main point of concern (to even merit an extended mention in the last Duterte SONA) five years later? What became of these intense efforts?

To the last, President Duterte displayed his mistaken belief that the arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines is ineffectual, because China did not participate. Of course, the only other entity that shares his belief is China, who has held this position from the very beginning.

The refrain to avoid war was likewise repeated, which is unsurprising; to the binary mind grounded on violence, the nuances of the diplomatic policy and the relationship among nations flies past. It seemed especially incongruous followed by his riff against disadvantageous water contracts; he saved his bravado for this chest-thumping exercise, extolling against the evils of the water companies and recounting his threat to expropriate their water systems. While I am nowhere near the side of these water companies, I wish the even the same level of resoluteness was directed to assert our claim over the Sea of Many Names.

There was likewise a deliberate attempt to gloss over the economic figures — at one point, President Duterte mentioned the debt-to-GDP ratio from 2018. Which should have been good for the 2019 SONA, not for 2021. Perhaps they did not want reality to rear its ugly head — after all, people are waiting to hear how the government intends to lift our country out of this deep, deep, hole created by the pandemic.

The President likewise went into the pandemic response a little after an hour and a half into his speech — touting 7M Filipinos already received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to data analyst Edson Guido, 10.1% of our population has received one dose of the vaccine, while only 5.5% of the population has been fully vaccinated, which translates to a little over 6 million Filipinos (for context, 6 million is more or less half of the population of the National Capital Region.) The latter figure was conspicuously missing from the SONA.

In any case, as of this writing, the President is 14 minutes into the second hour of his last SONA. Stay tuned for next week’s column, dear millennials and fillennials, this sounds like a long one.

‘…Pacquiao and company have a long road ahead if they want to persist in this battle against Cusi and friends. Will they go all the way, or will they slink back, lick their wounds, and live to fight another day?’sss

WHAT has been brewing for months has finally come to pass. PDP-Laban, the storied political party of President Duterte, was unable to repair the steaming fissures within its ranks. As observers pointed out a few months ago, the clash between Energy Secretary and PDP Vice Chair Alfonso Cusi and Senator and PDP President Manny Pacquiao would lead to a break in the party if not properly addressed. The fork in the road came when both factions tried to oust the other — Cusi was expelled from the party by Pacquiao, but Cusi fired back and removed Pacquiao and his cohorts, with the blessing of no less than President Duterte.

With both sides calling the action of the other contrary to the Party’s constitution, it seems that there is no other way forward but taking it to the courts to settle the issue — something usually avoided by any ruling party going into an election year. Unless a party in disarray is as of the moment, as there are other parties that will step up to carry the ball into 2022. Perhaps the reason why intra-party disputes are not a big concern is because of the existence of Hugpong ng Pagbabago. While its advocates continue to point out that Hugpong is a regional party, all political observers know to go where power gravitates. And judging by the deluge of national politicians flocking to Davao City in the proverbial kiss the ring moment with Mayor Sarah Duterte, these little details of regional or national party already seem inconsequential.

One wonders at the strategy employed by Pacquiao and his allies in going against his former party mates; he launched what was supposed to be a bomb and then promptly turned around and left the country, ruining the momentum of his exposes. This also left the field wide open for Duterte to take potshots at him. Pacquiao in effect left himself unguarded against these attacks, and I don’t see anyone from his side taking the cudgels in his absence. The so-called exposes also lost traction, with no one minding the store.

Even Sen. Koko Pimentel, whose father was one of the co-founders of PDP, was powerless to stop Duterte from handing over the party to Cusi.

And one wonders further: did Pimentel et al think they had a shot from taking the party away from their chairman, the incumbent President of the Philippines? Because if they did, then wow. As the younger folks would exclaim, “what were they smoking?” If this faction thought they would actually succeed in wresting the party away from the incumbent President, then they might have seriously overestimated Duterte as a lame duck. While conventional wisdom would have lent some validity to that assumption, situational awareness would have dictated that they tread more carefully, considering that the obvious tack of the current administration to perpetuate their hold on power beyond Duterte’s term.

All in all, it seems that Pacquiao and company have a long road ahead if they want to persist in this battle against Cusi and friends. Will they go all the way, or will they slink back, lick their wounds, and live to fight another day?

‘For every decision, he said, we will be making a segment happy, and the other, angry; at the end of the day, all we can do is try to do the right thing. I hope history judges Noynoy Aquino fairly.’

EXACTLY five years ago yesterday, at around 7 a.m., I got wind that the Permanent Court of Arbitration will release its decision on the case of the South China Sea Arbitration (more formally known as the Republic of the Philippines vs. the People’s Republic of China) at 5 p.m., Manila time. I called a former colleague who was on the team, and he confirmed that it was legit.

I then sent a message to former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, fondly called “PNoy” by many, to inform him that the decision was due, and to ask for instructions. Unknown to many, I continued to serve as his spokesperson after he stepped down from the presidency, as he graciously accepted my offer of help. I mentioned that I would be on standby, and was ready to work with his executive assistant and speechwriter, JC Casimiro, to prepare for the two possible scenarios regarding the decision. Anyone who has worked with PNoy knows this by heart: you cannot merely report a concern or issue to him without presenting your proposed solution or next steps. Otherwise, what is that grey matter housed inside your skull for? Prepare for all possible eventualities, always.

His response was typical PNoy. His immediate concern was, how do we get a copy of the decision? (A side note: barely two weeks out of the highest office in the land, he already recognized that he was not part of the loop for official communications for the decision, and neither did he throw his weight around nor demand for his inclusion.) Before he said anything, he was firm about wanting to read the entire decision first. From a staffer’s point of view, his entire presidency was marked by this discipline: read, get the facts, double check. Decisions on matters of state cannot and should not be made on the fly. You cannot YOLO your way through the presidency.

The nature of my duties, I learned early on, was in constant clash with his deliberate decision-making style. I always had a deadline, with journalists breathing down your neck for a statement or a response. It was frustrating at times, and I learned to trust his sense and method, and to accord him the quiet required when making decisions that could possibly affect millions of Filipinos.

At last, 5 p.m. came, and our best hopes came into full fruition. The PCA had ruled in favor of all of our submissions, 15 in all. Ultimately, the PCA left the theory of the 9-dash line, pun intended, dead in the water. I stepped back a moment to take it all in – it was, as some called it, a Hail Mary. PNoy was right, in the end. A small country like ours could stand up to a giant as long as we stood on the truth and the law.

I gently prodded him about the statement. By this time, I could barely send a message as my phone was ringing off the hook. He wouldn’t budge. He would read the decision, line by line, word for word, until he was satisfied that he understood it fully. Only then would he speak, despite having been handed the decision of a lifetime. Another man would have grabbed every available mic in town to crow and preen, never mind the details. But this was PNoy after all, and he buckled down to read every single page — all 499 of them — before he spoke to the Filipino People.

As I told him after the dust had settled: Maraming salamat, Mr. President. Napakatayog ng lipad ng bandila natin sa araw na ito.

‘For every decision, he said, we will be making a segment happy, and the other, angry; at the end of the day, all we can do is try to do the right thing. I hope history judges Noynoy Aquino fairly.’

ALMOST to the day, five years ago, the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, facilitated a peaceful transition of power to then President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Despite seeing his handpicked candidate (and close friend) lose to the President-elect, PNoy handled the transition better than some of us: we were obviously still hurting from the loss. But PNoy, being himself, did not let whatever emotions he had get in the way of performing his duty under the Constitution. And so it went, before noon of June 30, 2016, he welcomed the President-elect into Malacañan Palace, rode in his car, and went home to Times St.

It is perhaps ironic that five years from that day, PNoy left this realm for the next, shocking one and all with news of his passing. As his sisters said, he left in the way befitting his personality; silently, without much fanfare. Even post-presidency, many wondered why he chose to keep his peace despite the issues plaguing the country, left and right. He only spoke when he felt it necessary to respond (as was the case when he posted his bail before the Sandiganbayan in 2017, and other appearances before the Senate and COMELEC) and refrained from giving his two cents on every issue foisted on him. This must’ve frustrated friends and supporters alike, and he was acutely aware of this.

He was one of a few living people who understood perfectly how difficult the job of Chief Executive was. He knew its demands, its caprices, how much it takes physically and mentally to get the job done. It was perhaps this knowledge that drove his decision; he knew the cross well, and did not wish to add on the burden. This is not to say that he did not agonize about keeping silent or speaking up; like the man that he was, he weighed each instance carefully, seeking the advice of those around him, as he did when he captained the ship.

Even as he saw former allies jumping the fence to hurriedly join the new administration, he held no grudge. I remember sending him a news report about a particularly close former ally who had switched allegiances, and asked if he was told beforehand about the move (I understood this to be a courtesy among political circles) and he replied in the negative. He must’ve detected my annoyance at the personality, and told me, “He helped us back then, even if he did not know me personally. Hayaan na natin siya, naiintindihan na natin ‘yan,” (Let him be, we understand these things anyway.) Even then, he was still teaching me (and everyone else around him) to be patient with the world we were living in.

He was, until the end, someone who wanted to see the country he cared for to succeed. He spent the greater part of his life contributing to government, whether as a legislator in the Lower House, a fiscalizer in the Senate, or as the Chief Executive who wanted to make things better than how he found them. Never one for kicking cans down the road, he tried to solve problems even if it meant breaking people’s rice bowls. For every decision, he said, we will be making a segment happy, and the other, angry; at the end of the day, all we can do is try to do the right thing. I hope history judges Noynoy Aquino fairly.