WATCH: Noynoy Aquino goes home to Times Street

After 6 years at the helm of the nation, President Benigno Aquino III leaves the Malacañang Palace and goes back home.

After the departure honors, Aquino goes straight to Times Street in Quezon City to meet his neighbors and supporters.

Camille Elemia reports. – Rappler.com

It’s a bittersweet goodbye for Benigno Aquino III. 

For 6 long years, Aquino was at the helm of the nation. 

But, on June 30, he leaves the Palace and goes back home.

As the clock strikes noon, Aquino leaves the most powerful seat in the country.

After the departure honors, Aquino goes straight to Quezon City to meet his neighbors and supporters.

It’s back to Times Street for him, the house where he lived with his widowed mother, former President Cory Aquino.

BENIGNO AQUINO, FORMER PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: Again, I really don’t think it would have made any sense for me to move anywhere else ’cause this is where the roots are, this is where the friends are, the extended family, in a sense, really is. From the bottom of my heart I’d like to thank you.

Now back to being a private citizen, Aquino says the dominant feeling is relief.

BENIGNO AQUINO, FORMER PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: It’s a huge burden off my shoulder. 

And his first order of business as an ordinary citizen? Unpack 6 years worth of life at Bahay Pangarap – the presidential residence near the Palace – and fix his newly renovated home.

BENIGNO AQUINO, FORMER PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: We will sort everything inside the boxes, put them in their proper place, so the house will be livable. 

An hour after leaving Malacañang, Aquino shares two pieces of good news: the country’s tier 1 ranking in anti-human trafficking and the impending arbitration decision on the South China Sea, one of the legacies of the Aquino administration.

For him, he lives up to his mantra – to leave the country in a better place than when he arrived.

Camille Elemia, Rappler, Quezon City