Aquino tells OFWs: Choose the right leaders in 2016 as you had in 2010

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

CHICAGO — Just as they delivered the votes for him in 2010, so the overseas Filipinos must ensure that the “Filipino dream” of a better Philippines go beyond 2016, President Benigno Aquino III said here Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Manila).

“The future of the Philippines is in your hands,” he told the Filipino community at the JW Marriot in downtown Chicago, spelling out how crucial the 2016 presidential vote is to perpetuating the reforms his administration has undertaken.

As head of the ruling Liberal Party, he neither made any reference nor endorsed any candidate for President.

READ: Aquino to announce his 2016 bet in June

The President thanked the 550 Filipino professionals for their overwhelming absentee votes that contributed to his election in 2010, and then harped on the administration’s gains from its raft of reforms.

Under the “good governance” tack, he reported that the Philippines has gone from being Asia’s “sick man” to its darling, and has seen investors’ confidence rise, “untouchables” go to jail, and hanging infrastructure projects completed.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he said, raving about the Philippines’ economic turnaround.

READ: Aquino belittles past admins’ gains, says ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’

While he won’t promise to have solved everything by the time he steps down in June 2016, Aquino said it was clear Filipinos were reaping the fruits of the reforms that the administration has sown.

“Surely, even the next administration will reap what we sow, that is if the straight path doesn’t turn crooked, and if you pick the right leaders as you had done in 2010,” he said.