Aquino says voters are ‘confused’ about choices
With only 24 days left before Election Day, President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday urged Liberal Party members and coalition allies to campaign harder for administration standard-bearer Mar Roxas and vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo, and spread the good news of the “straight path” governance.
In an extemporaneous speech, the President said voter preference surveys indicated that people seemed “confused” about their choices for May 9.
Mr. Aquino admitted that he was worried that “our doubts about our opponents would be proven true” if they were elected.
“I am really nervous about that. All we have to do is to work harder,” he said.
Roxas continues to trail behind candidates Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay.
While Robredo has made a huge leap from a 1-percent voter preference rating, she has yet to have a comfortable lead over her major opponents, Senators Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Francis Escudero.
‘Confused’
“The surveys are telling us that the people are quite confused. To varying degrees, the opposition is saying that they will continue (our programs),” Mr. Aquino said.
The President was likely referring to the conditional cash transfer program, by far the most popular and most successful social service program of the Aquino administration, which traces its roots back to the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
A majority of the candidates for national position said they would continue and improve on the conditional cash transfer program. But the President noted that these candidates had not always been supportive of popular government programs all throughout their implementation.
This is the reason candidates must clarify their positions when it comes to the continuation of the administration’s programs, Mr. Aquino said.
Accomplishments
Before representatives, mayors, governors and other local government leaders, the President gave several examples of what his administration had accomplished for the people in six years—from the 107,000 lineal meters of bridges nationwide and 18,000 kilometers of national roads to 93 million PhilHealth members, 185,000 classrooms built and 800,000 households under the conditional cash transfer program, among other accomplishments.
“In your districts, in all the towns here, you can find someone who can testify what improvements have happened in their lives. I will repeat: ‘How many of us here ever thought that we would be able to help millions of people?’ ‘That we will be able to bring change to our country?”’ Mr. Aquino said.
He said the people could not take a risk and leave everything to chance when it came to choosing an administration that could secure a brighter future for the people.
“We can always enhance the transformation that has taken place in our society today but this will not happen if we are lazy, if we allow the lies to spread. We have to show Filipinos that there is only one tandem that will continue what we have begun. And of course, that is none other than Mar and Leni,” the President said.
He said that with 77 days left in his term, he wanted to take the chance yesterday to bid everyone goodbye.
“And if we make a mistake and we once again need to take a stand to fight for what is right, I think, if I am still around, why would I not join you? Why don’t you make me stand before a cannon? That would be fine by me. But the point is, ‘why would we want to risk having that again?’” Mr. Aquino said.
