CORY AND NOYNOY

I wrote the article below when former President Cory Aquino died on July 31, 2009. It appeared as my column "One Voice" in  Business World. 

I thought I would post it again on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of her death. 

It was her death that seemingly reminded our people that there can be honor and dedication and patriotism among government officials. As a result, there was a groundswell of support for the idea of another Aquino Presidency. Sensing the strength of that support, Presidential candidate Mar Roxas, in a stunning act of selflessness,  gave way to Noynoy Aquino, his erstwhile choice for Vice President.

It seemed a minor miracle at that time. But for me the miracle is that Noynoy has carried the torch of his parents in the service of the country and has surpassed all expectations. In only four years, he has turned the country around from the "sick man of Asia" to an emerging Asian tiger. As he reported in his  SONA, his persistent war against corruption has resulted in tremendous achievements through the CCT, the K-12, infrastructure, health care, ratings upgrades. He has also made transparency a hallmark of his government. 

So as we celebrated the 5th anniversary of Cory's death, let us celebrate as well her legacy that his son is upholding - of integrity, of service to the people, of personal sacrifice, of love of country.

FAREWELL TO CORY

One Voice/Business World

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She was a simple housewife, content to bask in the reflected glory of her Ninoy. He was always voluble, charming everyone, pressing flesh, arguing points, debating issues, always convincing others. She made sure everyone was comfortable, that the table was filled with good food in a home that was always bustling with guests.

When martial law was declared and her husband picked up, she became Ninoy’s pillar of strength, quietly but with grim determination, meeting with the human rights lawyers, meeting with politicians and friends, even when these dwindled slowly over time. She suffered the indignities that only a dictatorship could visit upon its people whenever she visited Ninoy in his cell.

When Ninoy decided to go back home to  meet his fate, and was gunned down as he stepped onto the tarmac at the airport, she became once again the pillar of strength, not only for her family, but for the country as well.

Millions responded to her courage. They poured into Santo Domingo   in unending lines to pay their respects to the man who declared that “the Filipino is worth dying for”.  Millions more lined the streets and followed his hearse to his grave. Millions more started the yellow revolution – along Ayala Avenue and in many other main streets and town plazas across our 7,100 islands. They were no longer afraid. They would no longer keep silent.

Pressed into running for the Presidency against the overwhelming power and resources of the dictatorship, she gave in to a million signatures and threw the gauntlet down to challenge the Marcos regime. The rest is history. Piso para kay Cory. Cory’s Crusaders. The sea of yellow at rallies nationwide. The 500,000 NAMFREL volunteers who risked their lives to protect the ballot. Uncountable acts of courage and defiance and patriotism.

And when it was clear that Cory had been cheated at the polls, the outpouring of anger became a sea of protest. First at Luneta, culminating at EDSA over four fateful days of a peaceful People Power Revolution that riveted the attention of  the world.

Cory then quietly dismantled the structures that had propped up the dictatorship, brought freedom and justice back to the country, and led our people back to social and economic stability. All this while fending off seven coup attempts by those who wanted to grab power for themselves.

Despite the vast powers that she wielded under the Freedom Constitution, she exercised restraint and prudence to prevent abuse. Indeed, she refused all blandishments to run again for the Presidency, despite  lawyers’ assurances that she was qualified to do so.

But even as an ordinary citizen, her moral leadership was never diminished. And so our people looked to her at every crisis. And she never failed us. She spoke up when many were silent. She stood up when others kept their heads down. She led us when no one else dared.

She also  started a prayer crusade, traveling around the country, visiting colleges and universities, speaking at churches, encouraging everyone to pray – for themselves, for their families, for their communities, for their country.

Her last crusade was to harness People Power to address the problems of poverty. Convinced that microfinance and micro-entrepreneurship was the way to empower poor families so that they  themselves could lift themselves out of poverty, she convened like-minded individuals and established PinoyME. It is a social consortium that helps the microfinance industry in the country by mobilizing resources, finding business solutions to improve the efficiency of the micro finance institutions, and encouraging others to invest, to mentor, to train, to support the sector.

Today, we mourn her passing. We will miss her whom we loved. We feel the loss of her family as if she were our own. But we know that she would want us to continue her legacy in defense of democracy, in upholding truth and justice, in reaching out to the poor among us, and in living  prayerful lives of excellence and integrity. So we cry because we have lost a leader we admired and loved, and we also cry for ourselves, perhaps in sorrow that we did not do more to follow where she led us. But we must dry our tears and look out to see what we can do to keep her spirit alive in our country and our people. She was a rock of moral values, a beacon of democracy, a pillar of strength. Let us keep  the memory of her life and  the legacy of her moral compass always burning in our hearts and in our lives.

Hers was a voice that always rang clear and uncompromising. Let us raise our voices to join hers. Many of us have joined the movement I Am Ninoy. Today let us also launch a movement I Am Ninoy. I am Cory.

Mabuhay si Cory! Mabuhay si Ninoy! Mabuhay ang Pilipino!