AS President Benigno Aquino III delivered his last State-of-the-Nation Address, opposition leader Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez urged Filipino voters to elect a “forgiving and unifying” president next year to heal divisions in the country.
Romualdez, leader of the Independent Bloc in the House of Representatives, made the remark as his cousin, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said that the Aquino administration has been consistent in going after its political opponents.
More than experience and competence, Romualdez said the country needs a leader who will not only push for genuine reforms but also put an end to division caused by too much politicking and mudslinging.
“It doesn’t augur well for any leader to maintain divisions after being elected nationally. The next leader should be a unifying President, one who will unify the country after elections because at the end of the day, we are all Filipinos,” Romualdez said.
“We are all supposed to work hard here in Congress and in the government for the Filipinos as a whole. We should not be measured by political color or persuasion,” he added.
Marcos, for his part, said the Aquino administration has consistently pursued a policy of political retribution in its five years in office.
“That’s consistent,” said Marcos in an interview after the opening of the 3rd regular session of the 16th Congress. “If you are political opposition, it’s difficult.”
In response to the query if Aquino has been sparing his allies, Marcos said it is not him to make judgement. He said those. are for the Ombudsman to make, and that is her (Ombudsman) opinion.
The senator’s mother, former First Lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Romualdez Marcos, shared a similar view.
Mrs. Marcos who lamented that President Benigno Aquino III “has not been nice” to the Marcos clan in the last five years of the latter’s presidency.
“There’s an obvious lack of empathy on the part of the President not just to our family, but also to those who have divergent political views,” Mrs. Marcos lamented.
Marcos, the widow of former President Ferdinand Marcos, expressed confidence that Filipinos will be smarter in electing the country’s next chief executive after the term of President Aquino whom she described as antagonistic to her family.
“I am sure that after six years, people will be smarter in choosing a President who will do great things for them, so this country will be great again,” Mrs. Marcos said.
“All I can say is something personal, they have not been nice to the Marcoses,” the former First Lady said.
“When you talk about the nation, you talk about democracy, when you talk about democracy, you talk about justice for all, not for one,” she said.
