No more second term, says PNoy

President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his departure statement during the send-off ceremony at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal II on Saturday (September 13, 2014). The President is embarking on a four-nation official tour of Europe from September 13 to 20, his first to the region since he assumed office in 2010, to pitch for investments and support for the Philippine position to resolve the conflict in the West Philippine Sea. The President will first visit Spain, then proceed to Belgium, France and Germany for two days each. In New York City, President Aquino will highlight the country’s vulnerability to weather disturbances as well as the Philippine government’s initiatives in addressing climate change when he attends the Climate Summit 2014 in New York on September 23. (Photo by Lauro Montellano Jr. / Malacañang Photo Bureau)

MANILA – Pushing for a second term would not be the “right solution” in sustaining the country’s growth beyond 2016, said President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on Tuesday as answer to the question whether he will extend his term or not.

“There are some quarters that were saying I should try and go for a second term. I don’t think that’s a right solution,” said Aquino during the general membership meeting of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines (SEIPI).

The President said this remark when asked by a member of SEIPI on how the country could sustain its competitiveness once the Asean economic integration starts next year.

“We all have a timecard in this world and we have to prepare for the eventuality of being called to meet our Maker. So, there has to be that continuation of people of like minds who will deliver on the promises that are real and not just self-serving or nice (or) pleasant to hear,” he said.

The President also said that in order for the country to remain its economic growth, he would “vote for the right candidate” and urged the audience to do the same given that selecting the right leader was “really a collective effort.”

Aquino also asked his audience “to discern properly as to who is extolling populist sentiments with no substance, as opposed to (one) who not only says the right things but who you can trust to deliver the same.”

In September, the President opened up and said that he was open to the idea of running for a second term since he do not want his administration’s accomplishments to go to waste.

He added that they will listen to what his “bosses” – the Filipino people – thinks about a second term for him.

Early this month, Pulse Asia published a survey that showed six out of 10 Filipino or 62 percent are not open to the idea of amending the current Constitution that will allow Aquino to run again in 2016.

A possible reason for this is maybe the Philippines is still coping with the scars left by the late President Ferdinand Marcos who declared martial law in 1972.

Marcos was overthrown during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution that elected Aquino’s mother – the late President Corazon Aquino