MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III is not shutting his doors yet to a possible return to public office after he steps down from the highest office of the land.
At the annual presidential forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), Aquino was asked if he would pursue elective office after the presidency, like his two immediate predecessors – Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“I really want to examine, once I get a little break, what is the best route to continue the advocacy of uplifting the lot of our countrymen…. I cannot run in 2016 and I have no plans yet for 2019,” he said.
Aquino explained that his political career entails a great deal of sacrifice from his staff members as well, some of whom have been with him since his days as Tarlac representative.
He said that whenever he sees the people in his private office, “I am constantly reminded that the sacrifice that I have to go through in this job are not just mine.”
Aquino added: “There are so many people who have had to share in the sacrifice. I make a decision such as that (running for public office), I’d bring all of these people back in, and I have been asking of them quite a lot for quite a long time, and sometimes it’s not within me to ask them to give further.”
Aquino served as representative of the 2nd district of Tarlac for 3 terms before winning a seat in the Senate in 2007. Halfway through his Senate term, he ran for president and won. – Rappler.com