Paolo Benigno Aquino or “Bam” as he is more popularly known, has stayed away from the limelight following his stint as former vice president Leni Robredo’s campaign manager in the 2022 presidential elections. He has, instead, concentrated on helping entrepreneurs, pursuing personal endeavors, without much media publicity.

Still, even without being active in politics, Aquino continues to be a keen observer of all the various issues in and beyond the political realm.

Last 11 June 2024, the former senator was invited by the Rotary Club of Makati to be guest speaker during its weekly meeting at The Peninsula Manila. At that meeting, Aquino bared some matters that he has been preoccupied with of late. “There are three things that keep me up at night,” he said. Under

First, under a grouping which he labeled, “short-term economic challenges,” is the high cost of living in the Philippines.

He referred to surveys which he said point to a majority of Filipinos which more and more are finding it “too expensive to live in their own country despite a growing GDP.”

For the former senator from Tarlac, this is a “short term” economic challenge that must be urgently addressed.

With high prices of basic commodities to setting aside other “wants” just to keep up with the “needs” of individuals, Filipinos are having a hard time to make ends meet, he said.

Aquino recalled that in the past, being paid a minimum wage was enough, but no longer.

Living wage

In fact, he said, “in our Constitution, there was no mention of minimum wage, in Article 13 section ang nakalagay doon is a living wage that as a country, our aspiration is not to provide minimum wage (but) to provide a living wage for our countrymen,” he said.

It meant that for a working Filipino, money was left of his salary after all expenses and obligations were paid and which can go to the bank for savings or for other things a household or a family member might need.

Aquino added that in the last few years, the gap between minimum wage and living wage has grown.

The Philippines’ current dependence on rice imports and other imported commodities has presented a sorry scenario of increasing prices with no increase in wages.

This problem, for Aquino, could be lessened if corruption is effectively addressed and governments take care not to overly burden consumers in having to carry the weight of price adjustments.

He added that government support should also play a role in helping Filipinos as financial aid and benefits from the government on top of their income can make their lives easier.

‘Long-term structural problems’

In a bid to escape the harsh effects of tropical storms in the country, the Department of Education moved the June-to-March school calendar to August-to-June. However, classes were still suspended during when rains occurred in the “Ber” months.

In April 2024, schools had difficulty conducting in-person classes as temperatures rose to extreme levels, making the environment of school classrooms hotter.

Temperatures reached more than 40ºC prompting local governments and the Department of Education o suspend classes and shift to other learning modalities.

Aquino, a champion of education who has been called “father of free college education” said this posed a problem on top of all other existing problems that impacted the education system largely due to the pandemic.

“We had two, three years of really terrible education because we weren’t able to go to school (during the pandemic) and now we are seeing children in grade three, in grade four and grade 5, even unfortunately in grade 6 not being able to read,” he said.

He clarified that grade school students have difficulty learning to read during the pandemic and just as the schools reopened, extreme weather conditions forced them back home.

“This is one big problem, which if we don’t really focus on it now, in the next 10 years we will see a big deficit which will affect our ability for our countrymen to earn and to get the opportunities that are available from the rest of the world,” he added.

He noted that the proper use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), technological advancements can help the students reach their maximum potentials making them capable and skilled in industries they may enter in the future.

However, Aquino said hot classrooms remain a threat to learning in the next school year.

‘Geo-political threats’

Another thing that leave Aquino sleepless at nights are his thoughts of how fishing boats of Filipino fishermen are being harassed by huge Chinese Coast Guard vessels out of their traditional fishing grounds in the West Philippine Sea, and other territorial disputes in Philippine waters. Aquino fears that this problem will last long if not addressed quickly.

He said Filipinos grew up as “island people”, unfamiliar with problems faced by other countries who share borders with other nations.

“We all grew up here as an Island people… We never shared a border with anybody unlike countries who share borders and are affected iby the actions of their neighbors,” he said.

He set South Korea and North Korea as examples, with citizens of South Korea being obliged to undergo military training in preparation of a scenario in which South Korea is invaded by North Korea.

Aquino noted that for an island country such as the Philippines, the presence of other countries doesn’t exist which enables our neighboring countries to conduct activities in the area.

“For us, who grew up in an island nation, it’s not real, we don’t think of other countries around us,” he added.

Last May, China imposed a four-month ban on fishing in areas in the South China Sea which included parts of the West Philippine Sea that infringed pn the sovereignty of the country.

The Philippines sent a note verbale to China expressing the rights of the Philippines in the exclusive economic zones and other territories where fishermen should sail and fish freely and reiterated the country’s rights and jurisdiction in those waters.

Worse, the existence of Chinese military bases in the West Philippine Sea also poses a dire threat to the country.

While the issue of national security is an extremely complex topic to discuss, Aquino simplified the current issue in the West Philippine Sea.

“What we want is very simple: we want our shores, our seas to be demilitarized, we want our fishermen to be able to fish, we want our country to be able to benefit from the natural resources of what is internationally recognized as our territory,” he said.

“Simple lang naman eh, the fact that there are bases which are militarized which must keep us up at night, but not enough Filipinos really understand how present this problem is in [the] country,” he added.

Commendable efforts

Aquino commended the efforts of the current administration as well as the relevant government agencies in asserting the rights of the Philippines and urged Filipinos to come out and support our countrymen who are near these areas who are risking their lives to protect our sovereignty.

The former senator has expressed his intentions to run for senator in the next election under a newly formed political party, KNP - Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, which was the political party of Vice President Leni Robredo during her presidential campaign.

He reportedly has joined human rights lawyer Atty. Chel Diokno and former vice-presidential candidate Kiko Pangilinan under the same party.

The next election is scheduled for May 2025. In the meantime, he remains “sleepless at night” trying to find solutions to the more pressing problems the country is beset with.