PNoy thanks Arroyo for pointing out their differences

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on Monday thanked former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for pointing out the difference between them. At a press briefing in Cebu, Aquino said it was the biggest compliment anyone could get. "Dapat pasalamatan ko siya dahil sa palagay ko, parang severest, biggest compliment that anybody can get is that I’m her complete opposite," the President said after the inauguration of the 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant of the Korean Electric Power Corporation. "I thanked her for acknowledging that I am different from her," he added. In a rare press conference last week in Pampanga, Mrs. Arroyo scored Aquino’s way of managing the country. "Iyung ekonomiya na iniwan ko very strong at the time when there is global crisis, now when the rest of Asian economies are recovering, it is our economy that is decelerating, iyun ang problema," the former Philippine leader said. "I left the economy that is focused on fiscal sustainability. I raised taxes even if it is unpopular, but I have to do that because we need funds for health, education, job creation programs and infrastructure. These things are needed for a sustainable growth. The economy still benefits from that sustainable growth," she explained. "I left the government with ten years of uninterrupted growth even during the global crisis and I left with 7.9 growth rate. I left with automated elections which is the beginning of political reforms," Mrs. Arroyo added. The tirades against Aquino came at a time when results of public opinion polls showed that his performance rating has been dropping since assuming the presidency last year. But the President remains unfazed over such development. "Tignan mo iyong bumaba or less sa margin of error at kailan iyong period. Iyong period na rumaragasa ang presyo ng langis na hindi naman talaga ma-control. Iyong aking mga kritiko sinisisi ako sa pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin, mako-control ko ba yung gulo sa ibang bansa, sa Middle East," he retorted. — RSJ, GMA News