Mr Aquino, who is enjoying record public support three weeks into the job, has signalled his speech to parliament will outline the dire economic problems that he says he inherited from former president Gloria Arroyo. -- PHOTO: AP
MANILA - PHILIPPINE President Benigno Aquino is set to launch a blistering attack on his predecessor and flesh out an anti-corruption drive when he makes his first 'State of the Nation' address on Monday.
Mr Aquino, who is enjoying record public support three weeks into the job, has signalled his speech to parliament will outline the dire economic problems that he says he inherited from former president Gloria Arroyo.
'The work ahead will not be easy over the next few years. Nearly all the funds intended for use over the next few months have been stolen,' the straight-talking leader told an army parade on Friday in an apparent preview.
Mr Aquino later told reporters that his administration had discovered some major irregularities by Mrs Arroyo's government, and that he intended to use his speech to tell his countrymen about them.
'You will be very, very surprised at the things that we have discovered,' Mr Aquino said. 'I think the common reaction was, among those who already know, the expression of the mouth was: 'Ha, they did that! Why did they do that?' There is really no sense, no rhyme, no reason.' Adding to the political tensions, Mrs Arroyo will be in parliament to listen to the speech because she won a seat in the House of Representatives in the May elections. -- AFP
