Minority Leader slams Aquino as voters’ ‘big mistake’

MANILA, Philippines—Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said that Filipinos should brace for the worst because their “mistaken choice” for President over a year ago was “the big problem.”

“Blunder begets disaster,” Lagman said at a press conference at Batasang Pambansa Wednesday morning.

Lagman said voters expected too much from President Benigno Aquino III as his slogans and promises in the presidential campaign “concealed and overshadowed his inadequacies.”

With such shortcomings, Lagman said, the President should have chosen “good counsel and worthy subalterns.”

“But is the President appointing the right people? This dilemma will bedevil the President and this country for the next five years,” Lagman added.

Instead of giving Mr. Aquino a grade for his first year in office, Lagman said he would rather send ” regular wake up calls” on the divergence between his performance and  campaign promises; the state of the economy and governance and  the actual data on economic and social indicators.

“Despite the President’s allergy to bad news, he must be made aware repeatedly that virtually all principal economic and social indicators of growth and progress are down, just like his plunging popularity and trust ratings,” said Lagman, who called the President’s  campaign slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” as “a relic of partisan sloganeering and faulty premise.”

Lagman said that based on recent surveys, the number of Filipino families suffering hunger has increased to 4.1 million from 3.4 million families last year. He added that the unemployment rate jumped to 7.4 percent in January this year and was expected to worsen with the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa affecting overseas Filipino workers.

He said investor and consumer confidence were on the decline due to disappointment in his leadership despite glowing budget statistics that he claimed were unsustainable.

“President Aquino gloats over artificial savings and cash surpluses. Forced savings are like drugs locked up in a medicine cabinet while an epidemic rages,” said Lagman.