Philippine President Benigno Aquino III delivers his 5th State of the Nation Address during the joint session of the 16th Congress at the House of Representatives in suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines Monday, July 28, 2014. AP
MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III struck a magic chord in the heart of his staunchest allies in Congress when he teared up during his fifth State of the Nation Address. But for his critics, Aquino only shed crocodile tears.
Aquino choked and held back tears when he recalled his late father and opposition leader Senator Benigno Aquino Jr.’s famous line “The Filipino is worth dying for.”
“Hangga’t nagsisilbi tayong lakas ng isa’t isa, patuloy nating mapapatunayan na, ‘the Filipino is worth dying for,’ ‘the Filipino is worth living for,’ at idadagdag ko naman po: ‘The Filipino is definitely worth fighting for,'” Aquino said, his voice breaking.
He also teared up when he recalled the 1987 ambush during the term of his late mother President Corazon Aquino. He said he wonders whether there would be another threat to his life which would put an end to his ant-corruption campaign.
“Kung dumating nga ang panahon pong iyon at natapos na po iyong ating pangalawang buhay, masasabi ko ho bang sa lahat po nang inaabot natin, ako po masasabi ko kuntento na ako,” he added before he was overwhelmed with emotion.
Even his sister television host Kris Aquino shed tears during the Sona.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., a stalwart of Aquino’s Liberal Party, said Aquino seemed to have shown his human side.
“In private, he’s very friendly and not at all combative. Most of us there were touched, including myself,” Belmonte said in a text message.
Even tough boys cry sometimes, majority floor leader Neptali Gonzales II said of the bachelor president in a phone interview.
Gonzales said the President seemed frustrated with the critics’ moves against him, which include three impeachment raps endorsed by militant lawmakers over Aquino’s outlawed Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
“While the President is the highest official of the land, he’s still a human being… Hindi naman taong-bato ang Pangulo eh (The president is not stone-hearted),” he added.
Another Aquino ally Rep. Ben Evardone said the President showed his humble side despite being hounded by criticisms.
“His being sentimental is mainly due to the fact that despite of what he has done for the people, his critics appear to be unreasonable in their incessant attacks on his administration. It also shows his sincerity and humility,” Evardone said in a text message.
Aquino’s critics, however, are not buying the President’s theatrics.
Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan said the President merely used the name of his parents to cover up for his failure to address other issues, such as poverty alleviation, plight of farmers, as well as controversial measures like the freedom of information and anti-political dynasty bills.
“But rational audiences can see thru this method… His so called accomplishments now sound hollow and shallow. And he covers these up with the emotional appeal at the end,” Ilagan said in a text message.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said Aquino should be ashamed of using his parents’ memory by using his DAP.
“The dramatic ‘excuse me po’ choking as well as the as-if-on-cue TV panning to his teary eyed siblings were all made to appeal to the emotions of the audience and viewers,” Zarate said.
“Scripted or not, he should be remorseful because he tarnished the memory of his parents by inflicting on the people more hardships through his DAP and other anti-poor policies,” he added.
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