By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:42:00 05/31/2010
MANILA, Philippines—Presumptive president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III Sunday said he risked being isolated from the people if he lived in Malacañang but that he was willing to talk with his neighbors on Times Street regarding his preference to stay in the family home in the quiet Quezon City subdivision.
Aquino indicated that he would take a second look at his campaign promise not to live in the presidential palace like his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino.
“I will hopefully talk to the officers of our neighborhood association,” Aquino told reporters. “We’ll be examining the situation also. Times Street lacks certain facilities. We want to make life easier for everybody, including the media.”
Aquino, who remains ensconced on Times Street in West Triangle, has been the object of a paparazzi style of coverage by local and foreign media since the May 10 elections. In a paparazzi style of coverage, photographers pursue famous people everywhere they go—even in private places—to take their photographs.
‘Negative vibes’
Aquino said that aside from the “negative vibes” of living in Malacañang, he was concerned about becoming an “isolated leader” by staying in the Palace by the river surrounded by heavily guarded gates.
“My belief that all who have stayed in Malacañang have been negatively affected is based on my stay in Malacañang,” Aquino said, alluding to the time when his mother was the President and held office inside the Palace compound while living outside it.
“Also, you want to be able to really still touch base with the people. At the end of the day, you are the servant and the servant has to be in touch with the masters,” he said.
Aquino added: “Malacañang affords more and more isolation, which might not help in becoming a good governor [to] promote the good governance we want. There has to be some way of maintaining or touching base with the people.”
Aquino has previously said that no member of his family would live in Malacañang, including his nephews, Joshua and Baby James, whom he is extremely fond of.
Arlegui mansion
His preference to stay at the Aquino family residence has drawn mixed reactions from residents in the neighborhood, with some expressing concern over the possible security and traffic nightmares the incoming President would cause with his presence in the area.
On reports that renovation work has begun at the Arlegui mansion across the street from the Palace, Aquino said nobody from his camp had authorized such remodeling which he believed was made solely at the initiative of the outgoing administration.
Soul-searching
Aquino wants to have as little contact as possible with the departing administration and is cool to offers of a meeting for the two sides to work out a transition program.
“We are forming the Cabinet. The Cabinet will be the ones who will comprise the transition team, who will need to know all the data with regard to the current situation, potential problems, bright spots if any, so we are guided accordingly,” he said.
Amid wild speculation on who would comprise his Cabinet, Aquino said that most of his choices were still “undergoing soul-searching, consulting their respective families and the institutions they belong to, as they are not yet ready to fully embrace the assignment.”
Yes and no
Some residents around Times Street have told the Inquirer that they hope Aquino would reconsider his plan to live in the upper middle-class neighborhood during his term.
Apart from the main headache of keeping Aquino safe, there is also the likelihood of a traffic nightmare in the area.
One businessman even raised the specter of bombs being thrown in the subdivision and residents getting hurt.
Businessman Juancho Esteban, a member of the West Triangle Homeowners II Association, said: “He should wake up and realize that he is now the President of the republic.”
Officials of the barangay and homeowners’ association said consultations with Aquino had yet to begin but that the neighborhood would back him if he decided to stay.
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