Aquino defended on Kenney remarks

Go easy on first impressions.

Malacañang on Sunday said a statement by a US diplomat in 2010 describing then Senator Benigno Aquino III as “a diffident, unassertive man” had been proved wrong by the President’s performance in office.

“Whoever made the assessment, to put it very frankly and to put it very clearly, was wrong. The assessment was clearly wrong,” said the President’s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte.

“You can see it in the performance of the President,” Valte added.

She made the statement when asked about a cable sent to Washington in January 2010 by then US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney. It was one of numerous confidential US Embassy cables about the Philippines recently leaked out by the antisecrecy website WikiLeaks.

The cable was filed by Kenney weeks after Mr. Aquino declared his presidential candidacy.

Valte, speaking in an interview over state-run radio dzRB, was careful not to mention Kenney by name in her remarks.

In her cable, Kenney referred to an hourlong coffee meeting she had with then Senator Aquino at her residence and described him as “clearly more relaxed and self-possessed than in previous encounters.”

Kenney said that “previous contacts with Senator Aquino, often accompanying his mother, former President Cory Aquino, left the impression of a diffident, unassertive man continuing a political tradition handed on by his parents but not carving his own legacy.”

But she said a “more confident, self-assured persona was very much displayed during a relaxed, hourlong coffee.”

“Senator Aquino appeared to have emerged from the shadow of the towering political legacy of his parents,” Kenney added.

Vague on policies

But Kenney also said: “Unlike other major presidential candidates … Aquino was vague on specific policies he would pursue if he won office.”

“Queried for his views on issues like Mindanao, the economy and foreign policy, Senator Aquino did not provide any clear policy proposals, but stressed the importance of clearing up the legacy of corruption and cronyism of the Arroyo administration,” the cable said.

“The only policy concern he mentioned specifically was the dismal state of Philippine education … However, he did not outline any plans to reverse the decline.”

Slap on Cory

A previous cable by Kenney, also released by WikiLeaks and seen by Philippine officials as a slap on the President’s mother, former President Cory Aquino, drew a sharp reaction from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

In a July 2009 cable, Kenney said the late President’s “credibility as a moral crusader was tarnished when she was seen with former President Joseph Estrada in protest movements against (then) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo—even after she had supported then Vice President Arroyo’s successful second People Power revolt in 2001 that ousted Estrada.”

Kenney also said that while Cory Aquino was revered as a hero for helping restore democracy in the Philippines, her “moral leadership … never fully compensated for her weak leadership style.”

“Her presidency was marked by numerous coup attempts and allegations of corruption,” Kenney said.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario had called that Kenney cable “most unfortunate.” He said that while Kenney was “extremely sociable” as ambassador, “unlike her distinguished predecessors … she was a dismal failure in helping the Filipinos defend our democracy.”