By Joseph B.A. Marzan
In a meeting at Times Street, Quezon City, Jo Jan Paul Peñol, who had been appointed by former President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III as Commissioner for the Visayas of the National Youth Commission (NYC), told the latter of his insecurity in his new post as he lacked knowledge of the position.
Peñol was appointed in 2014 while working for the late congressman Arcadio Gorriceta (Iloilo, 2nd district). He regularly met with Pres. Aquino and Senator Franklin Drilon after losing his 2013 vice-mayoral bid in Pavia despite the presidential endorsement.
Peñol told Daily Guardian that the Times Street meeting with Aquino, who passed away on Thursday, touched him the most personally as the former president told him to “learn the ropes” as he went along in the position.
“I told him, ‘Mr. President, I thank you for the privilege of joining your administration as Commissioner of the National Youth Commission. However,’ I said, ‘I was not that aware of the entire duty as commissioner,’ and he said, ‘JP, learn the ropes. You can go along the way. I never planned and never dreamed to become a President, but here I am now as President, and what I can do is study everything. I believe that you can do everything in your capacity. For me, I’m just an ordinary Congressman, an ordinary Senator, but who can predict the future? There is a lot in store for you in the [NYC],’” Peñol recalled.
Peñol said he could not describe his shock upon learning that Aquino, 61, succumbed to renal failure as confirmed by his sister and family spokesperson Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Aquino-Abellada.
“Earlier this morning, I was biking around Circumferential Road. When I arrived home, I was actually very surprised to see a Facebook post that former President Noynoy Aquino died. I was not aware of his health condition, because as his sisters Ballsy and Pinky said, they valued his privacy, and I think that was the reason why they did not divulge the information to the public regarding his health condition,” he said.
Peñol said he formed a close working relationship with the late president during his tenure as NYC commissioner. They had private personal meetings both in Malacañang and at the president’s house on Times Street.
Before working for the Aquino administration, Peñol also worked with the former chief executive in meeting with local community leaders in Iloilo, as well as for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO).
In addition to his work at the NYC, where he championed reforms in the Sangguniang Kabataan, Peñol also joined Aquino in 2015 as a member of the Philippine delegation to the Paris Climate Conference.
“Like any other presidential appointee, we enjoy the privilege of serving in his pleasure. So, in other words, that alone gives us the guarantee that we have the trust and confidence of the President, and yes, we had developed a personal relationship with the President while we worked together in a lot of causes,” he said.
He described Aquino as “straightforward, courageous, and studious,” as the former president would demand workers to fulfill their tasks on time, otherwise, they would be called to Malacañang to be reprimanded.
He added that the former president always reminded them that “the people are their boss” as they are paid by taxpayers’ money.
“The way the people viewed him was that he was inexperienced, and that he only won because he was the son of a former President and a former Senator. But what people didn’t know about him was that he was very studious. When he has a meeting, he studies all the details of the meeting and the topics to be discussed, and he will always ask questions in detail. When he tasks your department, he always makes sure that you have to pass before the deadline because he will call you to the Palace and he will be reprimanded if you will not follow the deadline,” he said.
As Aquino was about to step down as president, Peñol, whose term was supposed to expire in 2017, offered to resign thrice but was rejected.
He finally resigned in August 2016 under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte appointed another Ilonggo to the post, Rhea Peñaflor, who actively campaigned for him here during the 2016 election.
“Many times, I submitted my resignation letter to him (Aquino). In fact, I submitted my resignation letters three times to his office, and all of them he did not accept. He told me, ‘You can serve beyond my term. The [NYC] needs you.’ So I wasn’t able to resign then. Until such time into the term of President Duterte, that was in August [2016], I said that I didn’t want to continue serving in the [NYC] under a leader that has different principles with me because it would be difficult if our principles were not in line,” he said.
After their respective terms, Aquino and Peñol remained friends, with the latter often bringing the former pasalubong at Times Street whenever he flew to Manila. He also stayed for a quick chat if the former president was home.
Speaking about Aquino’s passing, Peñol said that the former president’s 2010 campaign tagline “Daang Matuwid” would remain for a long time.
He said that he was able to use his experience at NYC to his current post as Chief Operating Officer of the Iloilo Merchant Marine School (IMMS) in Pavia, and his other involvements with non-government organizations.
“Public service is the noblest profession, because it gives you a chance to change the lives of others, especially the less-privileged. That is what former President Aquino imparted to us, that in everything that we do, we should not think of ourselves, but we should think of others, because they are our boss, they are the ones paying us,” he said.
RARE ENCOUNTERS
Iloilo Provincial Board Member Jason Gonzales (3rd district) also told Daily Guardian that he was “saddened and shocked” by Aquino’s passing.
“I did hear stories that he was sick, but I didn’t know that it was this serious, that at a young age of 61, he had already died,” Gonzales said in a phone interview.
Gonzales joined the Liberal Party (LP) in 2015 as the late former president was on his way out, when he ran for the mayoral post in Lambunao, Iloilo.
Prior to joining LP, he was an independent, serving as Iloilo City councilor until 2015 when he resigned to run for Lambunao town mayor.
Gonzales is the LP’s National Director-General since 2019.
He recalled his only two interactions with Aquino when the latter was still president, saying that he was enamored by the late president’s sincerity.
“I went into LP as Director-General when he was no longer president, so I wasn’t able to get to know him that well. We met twice in Malacañang, that we talked shortly and interacted but we didn’t know each other at that personal level, but what I can say is that in those two encounters, I felt his sincerity as a public official. What I can appreciate about him is that when you’re talking with him, you wouldn’t feel that he was the president, that he was listening to you,” Gonzales recalled.
He said that the late former president left the legacy of “a culture of public service” at the LP, as recounted to him by party staffers and those who had remained after 2016.
“I think his legacy with the LP is the culture of public service, with the staffers and with the public officials who remained. Until now, they still remember within the party their personal stories of encounters with PNoy and his sincerity as a public official,” he said.
Gonzales says that he will choose to remember Aquino as a good man “with a legacy of helping the nation”.
“PNoy was a good man, and a good leader, and he has helped many. I choose to remember him that way, a sincere public official which left us a legacy of helping our nation. The legacy he left was not only for the Liberal Party, but for the whole country,” he said.
To commemorate the late former president’s passing, the 160 chapters of the Liberal Party will tie yellow ribbons in public places as a reminder of his legacy, as public events are still barred amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
