Aquino urges partymates, allies to fulfill election mandate

President Benigno Aquino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA—Exuberant over Team PNoy’s rout of the opposition in the last elections, President Benigno Aquino III said Wednesday night he was looking ahead to 2016, but conceded that electoral victory for whomever his administration would support then would hinge on the continuity of his reforms in the next three years.

In a thanksgiving party at Club Filipino, the President said the 9-3 victory of the administration senators in the May 13 elections was a “clear mandate’’ from the Filipino people.

“The Filipinos have made their decision: 9-3 for Team PNoy,’’ Aquino told a crowd of senators-elect, defeated candidates, Cabinet officials, lawmakers, allies and supporters inside a packed hall.

While he has been given much credit for Team PNoy’s strong showing in the elections, Aquino traced this back to May 2010, when he was elected President on a wave of popular support and sympathy in the wake of the August 2009 death of his iconic mother, former President Corazon Aquino.

But Aquino said the administration’s victory in 2016 would largely depend on “what we can show and do in the next three years.’’

“The Team PNoy’s thanksgiving tonight is a signal for action and the reforms we are slowly institutionalizing in our country. We will carry on the hard work, dedication and genuine concern for our fellowman. To our elected senators: Let’s fulfill our mandate,’’ he said.

His allies, Sen. Franklin Drilon and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, agreed with him.

“If the President’s reforms are successfully carried out, we’re confident that we’ll triumph in 2016. In my view, if we succeed in the programs of the President, the people will look for continuity in 2016,’’  Drilon, who is being groomed to become the next Senate president, told reporters later.

Abad, a Liberal Party stalwart, said party machinery was crucial in the 9-3 victory of the Team PNoy candidates in the senatorial race, and the election of 109 LP candidates to the House of Representatives.

But party machinery alone won’t spell victory in the 2016 presidential elections; this has to be complemented by the successful implementation of the administration’s reform agenda, he said.

“One can’t be without the other,’’ he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Abad, however, said that preparing for the 2016 elections won’t be the administration’s main preoccupation in the next three years.

“At this stage, I think what’s important is to make sure that the successful initiatives in terms of promoting good governance—social services, growing economy, impact on the poor—are carried out. This will give the administration the continuing trust and credibility when again the President takes to the hustings for his candidate. That will be a crucial factor, together with a well-organized campaign machinery,’’ he said.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said the recent vote was a “referendum on the gains and performance of the Aquino administration.’’

Team PNoy focused its campaign on the 6.6-percent full-year growth in 2012; the preliminary peace deal with Moro rebels; the Senate vote to oust Chief Justice Renato Corona, and the government’s conditional cash transfer program for the poorest families, among others.

Aquino declared that the administration’s message of good governance would be even “more thuderous’’ in 2016.

“To Manong Jun, Risa and Jamby, the Team PNoy and millions of Filipinos know how capable you are, and how much you wanted to contribute to the country’s future,’’ he said, addressing losing candidates Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Risa Hontiveros and Jamby Madrigal.

“Filipinos need public servants like you, and I hope that you don’t lose heart… and that when the time comes, your desire to uplift the lot of country and people will even be greater. I assure you: in the next elections, the message of the right path will be more thunderous,’’ he added, to applause.

Aquino noted he had three years left in his term.

“And if somebody asks me: `What happens after 2016?’ I’ll tell them: `Take a look at the members of the coalition. They’ll take over from us after we retire’,’’ he said.

With the new mandate, the President said the senators should repay the electorate with good service.

“Tonight we’re celebrating this victory, but it’s real value lies in the victory that our boss, the Filipinos, will celebrate every day in the coming years because their trust in the Team PNoy has borne fruit,’’ he said.

He expressed confidence the senators would help fast-track reforms, and improve the lot of the people.

The 2013 victory could be traced back to 2010, which ushered a sea-change of attitude among otherwise apathetic Filipinos, the President said.

When the “voice of the people’’ prevailed in the 2010 presidential election, the Filipinos’ life story suddenly changed – from apathy to engagement in governance, Mr. Aquino said.

“The Filipinos triumphed then, and this was the key to the triumph that we’re experiencing now: a vigorous economy; a deluge of trade and infrastructure; a clean break with the culture of corruption, and redemption of the needy,’’ he said. “It’s clear: The victory of Team PNoy now is an offshoot of the victory of the people in 2010. We campaigned in every corner of the country, bearing our concrete gains from good governance, not false promises.’’