MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III came out with guns blazing on Saturday, May 7, as he made one final push against the candidacy of a survey front runner while pushing for the victory of his anointed bets.

“Ano ba ang pagbabagong tinutukoy ni Duterte (What change is Duterte talking about)?” asked Aquino, chairman of the Liberal Party (LP), during the ruling coalition’s miting de avance at the Quezon Memorial.

Aquino mentioned gains of his administration – in addressing the problem of classroom shortages, in infrastructure, helping out-of-school youth, providing universal health case, or solving the problems of the military, among others – in questioning Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promise of “real change” under his presidency.

“Ano ba ang babaguhin? Ano kaya ang pagbabagong tinutukoy niya? Hirit pa niya: ‘I will fix this country.’ Ang akin: Sira ba talaga ang buong bansa natin? Tayo po, noong 2010, ay nagsabi rin nito. Ang panata natin: Iwan ang Pilipinas na di hamak na mas maganda kaysa sa ating dinatnan,” said the President.

(What will he change? What is this change he is talking about? And he says: ‘I will fix this country.’ But I wonder: Is this country really broken? This is what I said in 2010. And my promise then was to leave the country is a better place than when I started.)

It was Aquino’s strongest statement against the Duterte yet in the campaign period. Duterte, the rough-talking and often times controversial mayor of Davao City, leads pre-election surveys.

He is roughly 10 percentage points ahead of his closest rivals, Aquino’s anointed candidate Manuel Roxas II and former survey front runner Senator Grace Poe.

Earlier this week, Aquino stepped up and made formal moves to prevent a Duterte win by calling on trailing presidential bets to “unite.” Roxas, in a press conference, invited Poe to meet and talk “unity.” However, Poe rebuffed Roxas’ invite, saying she would not pull out of the presidential race.

Duterte’s numbers have risen dramatically the past weeks, despite one controversy after another. Aquino made sure to mention Duterte’s gaffes in his speech, as a sea of yellow gathered in the Quezon City landmark cheered him on. (READ: ‘Aquino-Roxas conspiracy insult to Filipinos’)

Referring to the mayor’s stand on the country’s dispute against China over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Aquino said:

“Sa atin pong ugnayang panlabas. Alam naman po natin, ang Tsina, inaangkin ang halos buong South China Sea, kasama na ‘yung parte nating West Philippine Sea. Dati, kung magprotesta tayo sa ASEAN, tanging Vietnam lang ang tila kakampi natin, na hindi pa makapalag nang husto dahil baka madagukan ang kanilang ekonomiya. Ngayon, ang buong ASEAN, nakapanig na sa paninindigan natin sa rule of law. Hanggang sa Europa po at siyempre ang Amerika, pati na ang Australia, at sa marami pang ibang panig ng mundo, may kabalikat na tayo sa atin pong paninindigan. Ang ibig po bang sabihin ng pagbabago, itong mga tinig na dumadagdag sa atin, ay hindi na mananatiling kakampi, dahil ngayon pa lang, inaaway na sila ni Mayor Duterte?”

(When you talk about foreign relations… we all know China is claiming practically the entire South China Sea, including parts of our West Philippine Sea. Before when we protested before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, only Vietnam sided with us and even then, it couldn’t fight hard enough because of concerns its economy would be affected. Now the entire ASEAN sides with us in defending the rule of law. Even in Europe, the US and even Australia, and in other parts of the world, we have allies in this fight. So when he says change, does he mean these countries that are siding with us will no longer be allies because as early as now, Mayor Duterte is fighting them?)

Duterte hit the ambassadors of Australia and the United States after they commented on a controversial joke he made about an Australian missionary who was raped and murdered in Davao back in 1989.

The mayor’s stand on the dispute differs from Aquino’s. While arbitration was sought under the current administration, Duterte is in favor of bilateral talks with China.

On the issue of his bank accounts, Aquino did not hold back as well.

“Ipaalala ko lang po: labag sa Saligang Batas ang pagtatago ng yaman mula sa iyong SALN. Kung wala siyang dapat itago, bakit hindi na lang pumirma sa isang waiver ng bank secrecy, sa ganoong paraan, matapos na ang usapan? Sa halip na hayagang sagutin ang mga alegasyon, siya naman ang humirit na respetuhin ang mga karapatang handang-handa niyang ipagkait sa iba. Di nagtagal, inamin din niyang may pera nga, na ipinang-“happy happy” na raw niya. Niregalo lang daw ito sa kanya at kung iyon po ay totoo, ang tanong natin: Meron bang nasa matinong isip na magbibigay ng diumano’y daan-daang milyon nang walang kapalit? Hindi birong halaga ito. Ano naman kaya ang hininging kapalit ng donor na ito kay Ginoong Duterte? Lahat naman siguro ng tao may sariling pag-iisip, kahit pa sumusuporta sa kanya, magdududa na kung totoo ang imahe na inihaharap sa atin ni Ginoong Duterte. Talaga bang walang bahid ng katiwalian si Mayor?”

(I need to remind you: it’s against the Constitution to hide wealth in your SALN. If he has nothing to hide, then why doesn’t he just sign a waiver to bank secrecy so that the issue ends? Instead of answering the allegations, he demands that people respect his rights – the same rights he does not give others. It didn’t take long before he admitted that the money was there, but that he used this for “happy happy.” These were gifts and if that’s true, I ask of him: Who in their right mind would give hundreds of millions without anything in return? The amount is no joke. What do they ask in exchange from Mayor Duterte? Anyone with an independent mind, even those who support him, would wonder if his image is authentic. Is it true that the mayor is free from corruption?)

Aquino was referring to vice presidential aspirant Senator Antonio Trillanes’ “revelation” that the mayor at one point had over P200 million in a BPI bank accounts. Duterte initially denied the account, but later admitted to owning it when proof emerged that it existed.

The President also didn’t find amusing the mayor’s often bombastic statements, particular when asked how he’d respond to the threat of impeachment. Duterte said he would “close down” Congress.

Addressing a common defense from the popular mayor’s supporters, Aquino said: “Paano kung literal at totohanan ang kanyang mga pahayag? Sino naman kaya ang maninindigan sa susunod (What if he means this literally? Who will stand up against this in the future)?”

Aquino’s speech was interrupted several times when the crowd would either start chanting his name or booing when he quoted or made direct references to Duterte.

“Ang boto ko, pareho ‘nong sa inyo, isa lang ang bilang. Hindi ko ho kakayanin mag-isa, hindi ko kakayanin mag-isa na maniguradong hindi bumalik ang lagim sa atin pong Inang Bayan. Kailangan ko kayo lahat, kailangan ko hong puntahan niyo ang ating mga kapatid na baka nahihilo pa o naliligaw. Kailangan natin bigyan ng liwanag ang mga ito,” he added.

(My vote is the same as yours, it only counts as one. I will not be able to do this alone; alone, I won’t be able to stop a return to the dark days of our history. I need all of your help. I need you to go to your fellow Filipinos who might still be confused or might have gone astray. We need to enlighten them.)

Aquino is set to step down on June 30 and is not allowed to seek a second term.

More than 50 million Filipinos are set to cast their votes on May 9, Monday. – Rappler.com