IT IS SOMETHING TO ADMIRE?SEN. BENIGNO ?Noynoy? Aquino III?s abiding conviction that he wants to lead a simple life, even while serving in the presidency. This conviction finds its chief expression in the plan of the presumptive president-elect to reside, not in Malacañang Palace, but in the bungalow (since much renovated) that he inherited from his parents. ?When you go back home at the end of the day, you?re just so and so, [and are reminded] that it shouldn?t go to your head, and that this is what you should do.?

This plan, and the attitude that gives rise to it, recalls the earliest days of his mother?s own presidency, when Corazon Aquino preferred to stay in the family?s residence on Times Street in Quezon City, motoring to Malacañang for the working day. (In the beginning, she even stopped at traffic lights too.) Then, as now, the contrast with the imperial conduct of the predecessor-president was invigorating.

But there is a reason why, even after 20 years under Ferdinand Marcos and nine years under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Malacañang retains a special hold on the national imagination: It is a symbol of the nation.

Other presidents have lived there, too, and some of them (Quezon, Magsaysay, even Aguinaldo who stayed there at the turn of the 20th century as a guest under guard of the American colonial government) were political giants indeed, who laid the foundation of the nation. The fact that Spanish and American overlords once called Malacañang home too, and that in Malacañang ?el inolvidable Rizal? (the unforgettable Rizal, as one revolutionary called him) parleyed with the Spaniards as an equal, only for his dear mother later to go begging in the Palace to have his execution stayed, only make Philippine possession of Malacañang more emphatic.

It will not do for the presumptive president-elect to turn his back on history.

We will not argue with the senator?s impression that the Palace emits ?negative vibes.? Or with his poignant description of it, as well as the Arlegui House where his mother finally decided to reside during her term, as ?too big. It will just emphasize being alone.? Or, indeed, with his almost-plaintive defense for staying put in Times Street: ?This is my spiritual and psychological well-being. I?m here in a very comfortable position. This is where I grew up; this is where I find myself very productive in terms of studying. The pacing here is really okay.?

But we can think of at least three good reasons why Aquino must break out of his comfort zone.

First, the security and logistical nightmare that will descend on his neighbors in the ungated community he calls home. Violent death is not a stranger to his family; extremist groups continue to regard the country, and operate in it, as a front in the so-called terrorism wars; the Aquino house itself (and the densely inhabited neighborhood around it) is a vulnerable target. It may be possible to secure the area, in such a way as to assure the public that the duly elected president?s safety is guaranteed, but at what cost? If the occasional checkpoint is an inconvenience, consider the rigor of security checks that the neighbors will suffer at least twice a day.

Second, the continuing act of sacrifice that the presidency represents. Unlike his two immediate predecessors, the next president regards his six-year term the way his mother did: as an imposition, a series of acts of self-restraint, not an excuse to do as one pleases. Add the necessity of living in Malacañang then, or at the least in Arlegui, to the list of unavoidable sacrifices. (It needn?t be as bleak as we make it sound; like other presidents, Aquino can invite members of his family to stay in Malacañang during his term.)

And third, the necessity of re-possession. Aquino must reclaim Malacañang on behalf of the people; on behalf of the people, he must rid the Palace of its negative vibes.

To be sure, reinventing Malacañang by living as simply as possible is not the only opportunity Aquino has to restore the simplicity that lies at the heart of uncorrupt public service. He can suspend the use of security escorts and wang-wangs and vanity plates for all but the five highest officials of the land. He can order a lifestyle check on public officials from his first day in office. And he can invite the people to visit Malacañang; he can greet them as they come in?as the host, duly elected.