2013 is the defining year for the Aquino administration. First, the country entered the midterm of the Aquino presidency. All that has been happening in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the country is now a result of the Aquino administration’s own policies. It could no longer shift the blame on its predecessor, the much-hated Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Second, the Aquino administration faced the very issues that it raised against the previous administration: corruption, bribery, trapo politics, and political dynasties; and impunity in human rights violations and killings of journalists. Third, President Benigno Aquino III declared that it would finally settle, this year, the decades-old land issue involving the Cojuangco-Aquino clan. Fourth, its ability to respond to crisis was severely tested by the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall and a devastating earthquake, which hit the country at a time when the Filipino people has barely risen from two strong typhoons that hit the country late last year.

So how did the Aquino administration fare?