Noy: There’s life after presidency, but…

MANILA, Philippines – There is life after the presidency, President Aquino said, but he’s not ruling out involvement in politics again if the need arises.

Asked what was next for him, the outgoing President shared his desire to lead a quiet life after his term and after 44 years of being part of the country’s political dynamics, being the only son of two democracy icons – former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and ex-president Corazon.

For Aquino, the turning point was martial law.

“I was all of 12 years old, I’m 56 now, 44 years of being in public life,” he said.

Speaking to Rappler’s Maria Ressa in a live interview on Tuesday, Aquino said one of his first thoughts that day was when his mother was advising one of her successors that “there’s life after the presidency.”

“So in politics this is the penultimate job (and) going through all of the BS (bulls**t) to get here and all the BS while in here, unless there is really that need I can fulfill, I’d like to look forward to a quiet life,” Aquino said.

The President explained the life of their family had not been easy while he was growing up, when Christmas time would arrive and they’d feel grateful to still be alive.

He said there was no way they could turn back the time, especially during martial law, and that some failed to live through it and enjoy the fruits of what they fought for.

“Now I was just talking to some friends. I was explaining to them after my mom stepped down (in 1992), about a year later I started working for the family farm in Tarlac and I had different lifestyle, probinsiyano na ako nu’n, which recharged me. If I did not get that I probably would not have ventured into politics by 1998,” said Aquino, who was Tarlac representative for nine years and senator for three years before he became President.

“So at the end of the day, if there‘s a need that has to be fulfilled and I think I can fulfill it, I will still adopt what my parents said – (if) there’s something I could have done but I chose not to do it, I would not be able to live with myself,” he added.

The President, however, stressed that part of his success would be how well he trained a successor that things would be going well and there would be no need to intervene and “we can have a different lifestyle.”

However, the President’s chosen successor, Manuel Roxas II did not win in the last elections.

Asked what he had become as a man after six years as President, Aquino noted how he managed to continue his parents’ legacy.