WITH his performance ratings plunging to their lowest levels, President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday warned the public and his allies not to be fooled by two-faced people who represent themselves as supporters of his administration.
In a speech during the inauguration of the P772.9 million Lullutan Bridge in Ilagan City, Isabela, the President once again slammed his critics who pretend to be his supporters.
inauguration of the Lullutan Bridge in Lullutan village in Ilagan,
Isabela, on Tuesday. The P772.9-million, 500.6-meter bridge is
considered one of the longest bridges crossing the Cagayan River.
Malacañang Photo Bureau
“I’d like to recall what is being asked of me always: Who will continue all of these projects if you are gone? I told them, my bosses, I believe in you. You will continue these. And I know you will not be fooled by those who try to represent themselves as our allies, but who are clearly two-faced,” the President said in Filipino.
As he cited several projects and programs under his administration, Aquino said Filipinos know how to look into the past to avoid making the same mistakes.
Aquino said there are only 450 days left in his administration and he is more determined to continue pushing for national development.
Aquino also said he is confident that the people will choose a new leader who will continue the “righteous path” that he championed when he ran for office five years ago.
The President credited the Filipino people for bringing about change in the country.
If the people are pleased with the country’s transformation, he added, then they must continue supporting good governance.
During the inauguration, Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said the bridge used to be a spillway that was destroyed by a typhoon some 20 years ago.
He apologized for the one-year delay in the construction of the 50-meter Lullutan Bridge, explaining that the government ran into a number of problems while building it.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has allocated P8.1 billion for Isabela from 2011 to 2015, he said, and the government will continue to improve Isabela’s national roads and build more farm-to-market roads in the province.
The bridge, considered as one of the longest bridges to cross the Cagayan River, connects Barangay Camalagui 1 and Barangay Lullutan, both in Ilagan.
When the bridge was destroyed in 1995, residents had to use barges to transport their agricultural products to markets in Ilagan.
Also during the inauguration, President Aquino led the granting of financial assistance to 73 boatmen displaced by the construction of the Lullutan Bridge.
Each boatman, who used to ferry people and goods when the bridge was not yet completed, received P20,000 from the President.
Also present at the event were Isabela Governor Faustino Dy III, Isabela District 1 Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, and Ilagan City Mayor Jose Marie Diaz.
In the Palace, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. dismissed criticism from researchers for comparing the results of the SWS survey with those from an earlier Pulse Asia survey, and for concluding that these showed the President was recovering from the fallout of the Mamasapano incident in which 44 police commandos were killed in a botched covert operation that he sanctioned.
He said disagreements over the interpretation of the surveys was “part of the democratic dialogue.”
Earlier, political campaign strategist Malou Tiquia, founder and general manager of Publicus Asia Inc., was quoted as saying Aquino’s seemingly better ratings in the latest SWS survey should not be compared with those released by Pulse Asia a few weeks ago.
“To say that SWS captured a correction on the dip is wrong because the questions asked were different. You cannot compare apples and oranges in the case of what is being measured,” Tiquia told GMA News Online.