MANILA, PHILIPPINES — President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday appealed to the Filipino youth to make sure his administration will not pass on problems they face to the next administration.
The President, in an audience with students from Miriam College High School in Malacañang, stressed all Filipinos must pitch in to achieve this goal.
“We will not bequeath to the next administration the problems we had to face,” he said, but added no single Filipino can effect change by himself or herself. “It takes a collective effort,” he added.
The President added he hopes the youth will “join us in the solution” to the problems the present administration faces, adding that his administration remains committed not to allow the perpetuation of the wrongdoings.
“The things we see wrong, we are committed not to perpetuate,” he said.
During the audience, the President disclosed History was among his favorite subjects in high school.
He said the subject, especially Biblical history, “helps us understand not only the past but the context of the present.”
But he also stressed the abuses of Martial Law should not happen again.
He recalled his high school days were spent during Martial Law, where instead of soirees, the youth had to put up with curfews.
“We had a curfew not by our parents but by the state,” he said.
The President also recalled his father, former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., was among the first to be arrested when Martial Law was declared in 1972.
“(At the time), how can you plan for the future if you are not convinced you have a future?” he said.
