A holiday to usher in the new Aquino presidency

Today is a holiday. Outgoing Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared the day of the oath taking ceremonies for the 15th President Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino III as a holiday. I don’t really agree in our having a nationwide holiday because it is not necessary for the rest of the country; however, we do have a cause to celebrate this peaceful transfer of political power that comes only once every six years under this constitution.

Today’s historic event has its roots from the United States Constitution, where the incoming President would fetch the outgoing President from Malacañang Palace and ride together in the Presidential car to the Quirino Grandstand where the new Pres. Noynoy Aquino would take his oath. Vice-President Jejomar Binay’s oath-taking immediately follows that of the President’s oath-taking ceremonies.

Then, just like what they do in the US, the newly inducted President would send off the former President to the Presidential vehicle (in the US, it is a helicopter) that would bring her to where she wants to go. But this is where the comparison between the US and the Philippines end as outgoing Pres. Arroyo isn’t really going to fade away into the sunset, like what she said during her farewell speech. That speech was a quote from the farewell speech of Gen. Douglas MacArthur before the US Congress when he retired.

Rather Pres. Arroyo will be going to the Batasan Pambansa to take her Congressional seat for her district in Pampanga and I’m sure she’d continue to make headlines as a Congresswoman, more so that reports are out that they are preparing a plunder charge against her for the various scandals that happened during her watch.

Meanwhile, we pin our hopes on the coming Aquino Administration. Sure it’s no secret that we did not vote or campaign for Pres. Noynoy, but with the elections behind us, we have to accept the fact and the reality that Pres. Aquino is the President for all Filipinos, including the millions who didn’t vote for him. Our duty as a citizen is to support the new Aquino government after all, if he succeeds in his plans and programs, we shall all be winners. But if Pres. Aquino fails, our whole nation fails with him.

There is no doubt that on the shoulders of Pres. Aquino is the burden of uplifting this nation that has been marred by political disunity, especially in the last May elections that truly divided our nation. We have an endemic corruption not just in the government, but even many in the private sector that helps corrupt the system. We have a bureaucracy in place due to political patronage, and now the old kids are back in town!

Last Sunday, Philippine Star columnist Chit Pedrosa bluntly pointed out that Presidential elections in this country is like a mini-revolution, where the new government removes the top leaders and place people who have to learn how to run these offices. This one of the reasons why the Philippines could never move forward because there’s no continuity. Well, today is the beginning for the rest of our lives… err well, at least in the next six-years of our lives, under another Aquino Presidency!

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Incidentally, Pres. Arroyo came back for her final visit to Cebu to inaugurate the Fishport in Talisay, a project of Rep. Eduardo Gullas. I thought her last official act was the opening of the Cebu Tunnel, but apparently, she made one more trip to Cebu, not only to inaugurate the Fishport, but also to induct the candidates of the One Cebu Party who won in the last elections, led by Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, Rep. Pablo Garcia, Rep. Pablo John Garcia, Rep. Ben-Hur Salimbangon and Rep. Luigi Quisumbing.

Again, we give credit where credit is due; Cebu was blessed during the 9-year term of Pres. Arroyo as she poured a lot of infrastructure projects to Cebu, notably, the Talisay to Santander National Road, the South Coastal Road, including the Cebu Tunnel, the Cansaga Bay Bridge and the various fishport and Roll-on, Roll-off ports that are literally moving bridges between our islands, hence tourism between the islands blossomed!

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While the nation would be glued on the Presidential oath-taking in Manila, back here at home, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will also be having his oath-taking today. So today begins the return of a Rama at the helm of Cebu City. It was Mayor Mike’s grandpa Don Vicente Rama who officially made Cebu a chartered city.

While many pundits have already pre-judged or should I say dismissed Mayor Mike as a puppet of Congressman Tomas Osmna, I would rather give him the benefit of the doubt. Mayor Mike is serious in his public service and in fairness to Rep. Osmeña; he has sort of set the parameters for a working relationship with Mayor Mike and then announced that he would leave him alone. So only time will tell if this would really happen.