Sereno’s bulletproof ride

THE kind of vehicles used by people in power says a lot about the person being transported. Former President Benigno Aquino 3rd learned this the hard way – first when he got a bulletproof Toyota Land Cruiser as his service vehicle and second, when he betrayed his predilection for fast rides with his controversial acquisition of a secondhand Porsche worth P4.5 million.

Aquino let it slip that his uncle, San Miguel Chairman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, gave him the Toyota sport utility vehicle (SUV), only to walk back when questions of propriety were raised. As for the 2007 Porsche, he had to sell it a year later, because “security concerns” of his presidential guards left the sports car unused in the garage.