No lame duck President in the Palace

As the presidential elections draw near the race continues to heat up, and many tend to overlook the incumbent president, considering him to wield less and less power as the new potential president comes closer and closer to taking office. In other words, as 2016 draws nearer, many tend to think President Aquino will become a lame duck president just riding out the rest of his term.

However, I don’t think that’s going to be the case. If he’s smart, he’ll continue to implement what he can and set things into place that will hopefully be carried out by the next administration. After all, there is still time for him. He should not just idly wait until the country elects a new leader. He is in a good place at the moment to keep on tracking. His anointed successor, Mar Roxas, is continuing to rise in the poll surveys and he is on the heels of a very successful APEC summit. He should keep on riding this momentum.

In fact, despite the rampant complaining that happened last week because of road and airport closures, I think overall, we are really quite lucky to have had such a smooth and safe event. There were many citizens who were scared for the APEC summit coming on the heels of the tragedy in Paris and Lebanon and the Russian aircraft crash. It was understandable that we would be apprehensive to have so many prominent world leaders in the country when there were so many terrorist threats being thrown around. After all, it would have been devastating if something were to happen to one of the overseas delegates, leaders, or staff while they were guests here in the Philippines.

But President Aquino, the government and APEC staff remained optimistic and tightened security. We all felt it. Airport closures, roads cordoned off. People were forced to walk long stretches of road just to get to work. It was a hassle, no doubt, but in the end, it was at least worth it to see that our hardships and efforts resulted in a peaceful and safe summit with everyone arriving and leaving as scheduled.

Obviously, we won’t be able to see the tangible results from the APEC discussions and dealings in the near future. It’s virtually impossible to say if everything is going to work out as planned, but overall, I think it was very successful. Filipinos who were polled after the event said they thought the government handled it well and the Philippines was a gracious host. Granted, many believe it could have been handled better the overall tone and reaction remains optimistic.

Most people were won over by following the proceedings of the summit and seeing what it was all about. After all the theme for APEC 2015 was about fostering an inclusive economy and giving fair chances for all businesses to be represented, especially small and medium enterprises. This is especially a powerful message to the many small and medium enterprises in the country who are looking for ways to join the bigger companies in the business playing field.

I think the highlight was at the APEC CEO summit during the dialogue between US President Barack Obama, businessman Jack Ma of the Alibaba Group, and Filipina engineer Aisa Mijeno. It was such an inspiring portion of the program as Mijeno was talking about how her company was aspiring to make a difference in the battle on climate change with ecological lamps that run on salt and water. However she was facing challenges with regards to support from the government and private sector. President Obama talked about how climate change was a very important issue and how countries and leaders need to act on it now, while Jack Ma called for the support and empowerment of more than 10 million small businesses, like Mijeno’s, around the world. I think it was during this discussion in particular that many saw what the APEC summit was about – creating partnerships, building bridges, and making investments in the future.

I applaud President Aquino for a successful summit, and like I said, he still has time in the highest office in the land. I look forward to seeing how he uses it.

* * * And speaking of elections, at this point it’s almost impossible that we haven’t learned a little bit more about those seeking positions of power in the years ahead. Between candidates putting themselves in a tough position on television or in print, we are getting a chance to see a little more about each candidate’s character and I think that is what is most important when it comes to selecting our future leaders.

One of the candidates that is really worthy of our support and trust is vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo. While some people may think she is not quite seasoned enough for the position, I believe that her integrity, intelligence, and empathy for the people and the country make her an ideal choice. After all, despite being in politics, Rep. Robredo, much like her late husband Jesse Robredo, is still very down to earth and focused more on the job than the accouterments of the office.

She is still very true to her values and makes it a point to serve the people the best way she can without fanfare and smoke and mirrors. She takes the bus, she commutes like a regular citizen, and she’s never felt like she was above the people she served. In fact, she was quoted as saying that she will never think of herself to be “above her constituents,” that if that ever happened, that would be her downfall.

At the end of the day we can all see that Leni Robredo cares, really cares. That can’t be said of all the other political aspirants. Leni and her husband truly invested themselves in their hometown and made improvements in Naga continuously helping their people progress. If she can do that for her city, why can’t she do that for the country? I believe that people will come around and see that, at the end of the day, Rep. Lenny Robredo will always put the country first and honesty, that is all we can really ask for from our leaders.