Noynoy will not dissociate himself from parents' legacy

Senator Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III on Monday said he would never dissociate himself from his parents despite calls from Malacañang. “Paano ko ba idi-dissociate yung sarili ko sa mga magulang ko e di naman nila ako itinakwil (at) wala naman akong planong baguhin ang pangalan ko," he said. (Why will I dissociate myself from my parents when they did not disown me and I don’t even have plans to change my name?) Sen. Aquino was reacting to the statement of deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar who on Sunday said the senator should “be his own man" if he is serious in seeking a higher position in next year’s elections. Olivar said Sen. Aquino, the only son of late former President Corazon Aquino and slain opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr., has been "invoking the illustrious memory of his heroic parents" in his bid in the 2010 elections. Although he is yet to categorically state his political plans for next year, Sen. Aquino said he sees nothing wrong with continuing his parents’ advocacy. He also took a swipe at Malacañang, saying Olivar’s statement could be borne out of the fact that nobody would want to follow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s footsteps. “Kung sa kanilang pananaw ay walang nangangako na ipagpapatuloy ‘yung gawain ni GMA (Arroyo’s initials), siguro naman ay hindi ko na sagutin ‘yun," he said. (If nobody wants to honor Mrs. Arroyo’s legacy, then that is beyond me.) He said he is trying to understand Olivar since defending the “indefensible" is a difficult task to handle. Before she died last August 1, Mrs. Aquino had been a vocal critic of the Arroyo administration. She even called for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation in 2005 during the height of the "Hello, Garci" scandal, in which wiretapped audio recordings indicated that Mrs. Arroyo might have benefited from electoral fraud in 2004. Calls for Sen. Aquino to run for either president or vice president next year grew after Mrs. Aquino’s death. Sen. Aquino said his parents brought him up to know the right from wrong and value the opinion of other people. “Sa aming pamamahay importante 'yung concensus building. Hindi porke’t sila ang magulang sila ang masusunod (Concensus building was valued in our home)," he said. He added that he and his siblings agreed with the decision of their parents, even the hard ones like his mother’s decision to run against former President Ferdinand Marcos, because they knew it was the right thing to do. - GMANews.TV