Daang matuwid needs 20 years
The Philippine Star | Updated August 6, 2015 - 12:00am
Malacañang yesterday stressed that the ruling Liberal Party (LP)
would need to be in power for 18 years or even two decades before the
good governance reforms of President Aquino bear substantial fruit.
“You can be assured that it will get better if we follow daang
matuwid (straight path). That is the reason why the President has been
very firm in pushing for continuation,” presidential spokesman Edwin
Lacierda told journalists.
By the 18th year the good governance reforms “should have taken
root,” Lacierda, a close friend and ally of LP standard-bearer Mar
Roxas, said.
He insinuated that the groundwork for good governance has been laid down.
“We are putting out here good governance and it’s up to the people to
choose every six years. This 2016 is the first referendum, the first
re-election of daang matuwid,” Lacierda added.
The Palace is endorsing Roxas for president and is hoping that
neophyte Sen. Grace Poe would give in to their request to be LP’s vice
presidential candidate, because both are committed to good governance as
well.
He also took a jab at Vice President Jejomar Binay, who he accused of
campaigning in his recent provincial sorties instead of working for the
country’s good.
“What has he done for the past five years? I would just like to remind him,” the spokesman said.
Statesman vs politician
Malacañang said Aquino should not be compared to Marcos when they
talk of the 20-year period that the LP has to rule in order to solidify
the changes made under the good governance agenda.
Aquino’s statesmanship, according to Lacierda, has become the
distinguishing mark between him and Binay, titular head of the
opposition United Nationalist Alliance.
“A statesman thinks of the next generation. The politician thinks of
the next election. President Aquino is that statesman who thinks of this
generation and the next,” he said.
“That’s why you’ve got six years of governance under President Aquino
that will end in 2016. If we have Secretary Roxas as our president from
2016 to 2022, that’s more than 10 years. Then, you extend it (and) you
have practically 20 years,” Lacierda added.
He urged Binay to stop comparing Aquino with the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, who controlled all three branches of government.
Binay said he had earlier cautioned Aquino from having former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona impeached.
Corona was appointed as chief justice by ex-President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo in March 2010 – an act described by many as a midnight
appointment. Although it was upheld by the high court twice, Aquino
refused to honor it and called on his congressional allies for the
impeachment.
“It’s kind of ludicrous for Binay to compare Aquino to Marcos. The
(Aquino) family suffered greatly under the Marcos regime – the father
being a victim of martial law,” Lacierda said.
------------
"...the
ruling Liberal Party (LP) would need to be in power for 18 years or
even two decades before the good governance reforms of President Aquino
bear substantial fruit." --Malacañang
The true spirit of "Daang Matuwid" is never and should never be about political party rulership. It is and should be about the nation and its people coming to their real senses and finally having the resolve to emancipate themselves from the long years of slavery and poverty brought about by various forms of corruption in our country -- in the government, in the church, and in private institutions.
The Liberal Party may be the one who coined the words "Daang Matuwid", but it would be arrogantly prideful for the Liberal Party to claim sole authority or authorship of the true spirit and essence of the nation's fight against corruption.
No good governance is a monopoly of a politcal party. PNoy (who simply happens to belong to the Liberal Party), like many other past and present leaders from different political groups, also have responded to the call to help our nation in its continuing struggle for true reform. But what the nation really needs is for everyone of us to do our part, because truly, it will take generations of honest, dedicated, and ever vigilant successors and people to sustain and maintain generations of a corruption-free society -- because fighting evil is a perpetual war.
"Daang Matuwid" should become our way of living, and not just a mere political reform agenda.
The true spirit of "Daang Matuwid" is never and should never be about political party rulership. It is and should be about the nation and its people coming to their real senses and finally having the resolve to emancipate themselves from the long years of slavery and poverty brought about by various forms of corruption in our country -- in the government, in the church, and in private institutions.
The Liberal Party may be the one who coined the words "Daang Matuwid", but it would be arrogantly prideful for the Liberal Party to claim sole authority or authorship of the true spirit and essence of the nation's fight against corruption.
No good governance is a monopoly of a politcal party. PNoy (who simply happens to belong to the Liberal Party), like many other past and present leaders from different political groups, also have responded to the call to help our nation in its continuing struggle for true reform. But what the nation really needs is for everyone of us to do our part, because truly, it will take generations of honest, dedicated, and ever vigilant successors and people to sustain and maintain generations of a corruption-free society -- because fighting evil is a perpetual war.
"Daang Matuwid" should become our way of living, and not just a mere political reform agenda.
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14)
