100 days not enough time to judge Aquino, senators say

Several senators on Monday said that 100 days is not enough time to judge President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino's performance as the head of the country. Three senators — Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senators Loren Legarda and Franklin Drilon — said it is very difficult to do constructive changes in the Philippines in just 100 days. "It would be unfair and premature to judge him for a 100 days," Legarda said, adding that instituting reforms "takes a while." Drilon likewise said that Aquino has a number of "roadblocks" which he has to dismantle first before he can properly run the country. He defined the "roadblocks" as the alleged midnight appointees of the Arroyo administration. "Do not judge him based on the 100 days. The cards were stacked against his administration. Many of these obstacles he has to remove (so) that he can have a smoother implementation of his plans and other issues," he said. On the other hand, Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III gave Aquino's 100 days a 7.5 out of 10. He said he initially wanted to give him a 9 but that he has had too many "controversial appointments." He specifically cited Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno, Aquino's close friend, who was tagged as a recipient of jueteng payola. Sotto also criticized the alleged lack of new appointments to the drug-related agencies. Enrile, however, said the public should decide for themselves whether they would approve of how Aquino has been running the country. "I'm not in the habit of rating people or judging them. Let the public judge," he said. - VVP, GMANews.TV