“It is really a big adjustment.’’

Thus intimated Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on the death of his mother, President Corazon C. Aquino, and the vacuum left behind by the country’s icon of democracy who he lovingly described as “the light upon our path (tanglaw sa aming dapat tahakin).”

“The house I am staying in has so many stations, reminding me of her and the fact that she is not here,” he said in an interview with the Manila Bulletin. “I am trying to keep my emotions still in control and in check.’’

Being an only son, Noynoy recalled having been told by his parents when he was 12 years old that he must take care of his sisters should something happen to them. Them refers to President Aquino and former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., both of whom have passed away.

The commitment to take care of his siblings could be a major the reason why, at 50, he remains single.

The “big adjustment” comment of Noynoy likewise reflects the political path he is tracking following his decision to accept the challenge poised by his party mate, Liberal Party president Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, and the mounting clamor for change by the people, to run for president.

Although weighed down by his agreement with his mother not to run for higher office in the near future, Noynoy explained that ‘’when certain quarters are telling me that I embody their hopes, their aspirations, you are flattered but at the same time, if that is really a truism, you do not want to frustrate the people.’’

“All of us have been raised not think of self before thinking of others. And in this case, the others are significant for me because they are my blood sisters, my support mechanism for a long, long time,’’ he said, referring to his four sisters.