Aquino a good man but ‘poor, awful manager’, says Senate ally

By: Maila Ager - 11 years ago

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III is a good and honest man but he is an “awful” and “poor” manager, an ally in the Senate said Thursday.

Senator Sergio Osmeña III made this statement after his advice to the President to fire Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla for lack of focus fell on deaf ears.

“I told the President to fire him (Petilla) two months ago because he’s not focused,” Osmeña said at a press conference in the Senate.

Asked what the President’s reply was, Osmeña said, “Well, at first he asked for a meeting then he made me ‘indyan’ (a colloquial term which means to stand someone up).”

“Walang nangyari (Nothing happened)… That’s alright but the thing is, that’s the way he (Aquino) solves things e. He stays with the people that he appointed,” he said.

“Like I said managing is not an easy profession and he’s a very poor manager, we know that. He’s a good man, an honest man but he’s an awful manager,” Osmeña added.
Osmeña said the President and Petilla were good and honest men but both were also “awful” and “poor” managers.

“We won’t be having these kind of problems now if they are good managers.”

Aquino ran and won in the presidential elections in 2010 on the strength of his campaign platform against corruption.

He became the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party following the death in August 2009 of his mother and former president Corazon Aquino. Her legacy of restoring democracy after toppling a 20-year dictatorship with the help of a popular revolt in 1986 and clean image throughout her six-year presidency were transformed into an emotional outpouring of support for Aquino that catapulted him to the highest position in the land.