It is easy to get distracted by the bombastic statements of the incoming president. Everything that comes out of his mouth, and the manner in which he delivers them, instantly become news material. Love him or hate him, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is larger than life even before he is sworn in as the next leader of the land.
Meanwhile, the outgoing chief executive has never seemed more of a lame duck than ever. In fact, he is hardly visible, or audible, at all. Since his anointed successor failed to win the presidency, and even as the vice presidential candidate he had fielded in fact managed to get herself proclaimed winner, President Benigno Aquino III has never appeared so lost, weak and lacking in purpose.
It well may be that all outgoing presidents go this lonely way. But it can be, too, that Mr. Aquino particularly has a lot of contemplating to do now that his so-called straight path-treading administration is about to end.
Things like, how much of daang matuwid was real and how much was braggadocio? When Mr. Aquino assumed office six years ago, basking in the glow of the public’s adulation of his just-deceased mother, he promised a righteous government that was supposed to deliver Filipinos from the clutches of poverty and corruption. Today, we know that the President and his allies took righteous to a new level, portraying themselves as crusaders and their critics and opponents as agents of the dark.
Despite this self-image, nefarious things happened during Mr. Aquino’s watch, nonetheless. While he tried to blame every mishap on his evil predecessor or some dispensable subordinate, the fact remains that at various points or all at the same time, agents of the Aquino administration were incompetent, negligent, conniving, arrogant and hypocritical.
The excitement—or foreboding—over a Duterte presidency gives us relief from the pattern of the next six years. Still, it will be detrimental to the nation if the new set of leaders would overhaul everything, govern with vindictiveness and see no good about its predecessor.
At the very least, the Aquino administration sets a good example to all succeeding administrations: how not to lead with an us-versus-them mentality, how not to believe anybody can get it right all the time, and how not to reject valid observations and suggestions just because they come from somebody who sports a different political color.
