Hundreds Remember Cory in Washington D.C.
By Rodney J. Jaleco, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
WASHINGTON D.C. Hundreds came to remember, and to honor former President Corazon Aquino at the historic St. Matthews Cathedral.
Her portrait welcomed churchgoers.
Fil-Ams joined friends and family of Mrs. Aquino who attended the memorial mass. Three cousins of her husband, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., live in the area.
The mass was officiated by Msgr. Ronald Jameson and Filipino priest Jose Opalda.
It was the second time mass was being celebrated for a Philippine president in St. Matthews, the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington DC.
Interestingly, on the day Pres. Aquino succumbed to colon cancer – exactly 65 years ago – the remains of President Manuel L. Quezon was brought to the Cathedral for a funeral mass.
He too fought a losing battle with disease and died from tuberculosis in New York. Quezon’s body was interred at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia, but returned to the Philippines at the end of World War II.
In last Friday’s mass, however, the underlying theme was Pres. Aquino’s deep religiosity, as well as dedication to her country and people.
God, Country, People
“Tita Cory was a woman of faith and selflessness,” declared Fr. Opalda in his homily.
“In her simple ways, she always put God first, and considered the Filipino people and the country as her priorities in whatever decision she makes,” he added.
When former Vice Pres. Emmanuel Pelaez was appointed Philippine ambassador to Washington in 1986, he recruited Adolfo Paglinawan as press attaché.
Margi Paglinawan, Ado’s wife, said her husband mirrored Pelaez’s own reluctance to accept the assignment; the envoy felt he was too old for the post.
“Tito Maning fetched Ado from our home in Mandaluyong and took him to Cojuangco building where Tita Cory temporarily transferred the Office of the President, pending renovation of the Malacanang Guest House,” she recalled.
“He noticed that the tone of the discussion changed from international politics and evangelization. The idea of the US assignment shifted to becoming missionaries to spread the gospel and soliciting for paper for Bibles to be translated not only in the different Philippine dialects, but for China and Far Eastern Muslim and Buddhist countries also,” Paglinawan revealed.
The couple was instrumental for the rapid spread of the Couples for Christ network in the US. In a “very mysterious and unique way”, she said Pres. Aquino was key to their unexpected foray into America.
“Living our faith wherever we may be, to bring about peace, to bring about justice, to bring about a world of love and joy – that is Cory’s legacy and what we are asked to do,” Msgr. Jameson reminded the crowd.
Among the churchgoers was lawyer Diana Negroponte, wife of the former US ambassador to the Philippines. In Manila, she was a familiar face in the social circuit where she occasionally bumped into Mrs. Aquino.
She recounts Pope John Paul II’s visit to Manila in January 1995, nearly three years since Pres. Aquino vacated Malacanang Palace.
“I and my son, who was then 7 years old, were with Mrs. Aquino who then was just member of the public, not asking for privilege, simply sitting in the stands, just asking to be close to the Holy Father,” she remembers.
“Her simplicity came through everything she did,” Mrs. Negroponte averred.
“A great leader in such a simple way,” she added.
Asked what she thought was Mrs. Aquino’s most striking traits, she replied without hesitation, “her love of the Philippine people.”
Cory still uniting pinoys
After the mass, churchgoers walked with lighted candles to the Philippine Embassy, about a block away.
The Philippine’s premier diplomatic post in America was festooned with yellow ribbons and portraits of Mrs. Aquino – the 11th president of the Republic, her first female president and Asia’s icon of democracy.
The Philippine flag was at half staff, barely moving in the breezeless twilight air. But a bright yellow ribbon wrapped around the pole below it, seemed to keep the spirit light.
The gates were thrown wide open and cocktail tables were strewn around the grounds for the open-air reception.
A long queue formed for the condolence book.
In the years covering events at the Philippine Embassy, none appeared as warm and welcoming or well-attended as last Friday’s memorial for Pres. Aquino.
One of Ninoy’s cousin, Di Aquino, recalled how he would fetch Ninoy and Cory whenever they came visiting from Boston in the early 1980s.
After more than seven years as Pres. Ferdinand Marcos’ prisoner, Ninoy Aquino was allowed to get heart surgery in the United States in 1980.
American officials arranged for him to get a fellowship in Harvard. Mrs. Aquino described their years in Boston as her happiest.
Di called Mrs. Aquino “Achi Cory”, which he explained was a sign of respect for Kapampangans.
“Low profile is Achi Cory lagi. In our gatherings, reunions, medyo tahimik siya kasi si Ninoy lagi ang bibo at bumabangka lagi. Siya yung maingay lagi so si Cory hindi masyado nagsasalita,” he explained.
Some people still recognize Tony Lambino as a member of “Smokey Mountain”, a singing group that became famous in the late 1980s for its socially-relevant songs.
He would often go with the Himig Jesuita to Arlegui to help celebrate Christmas Eve mass with Pres. Aquino and her family.
Lambino revealed he was a scholar of the Benigno Aquino Jr. Foundation in college. When he wanted to shift from his psychology major to communication arts, Mrs. Aquino summoned him to ask why.
“I told her that where before the battle for the souls of men and women was the school or the home, Fr. Reuter said that today it is in the mass media. President Aquino turned to Ambassador (Howard) Dee, then said ‘Well, Ninoy was a journalist before he became a politician.’ She said, ‘okay this is a good plan.’ And I was able to finish my communications degree at Ateneo,” Lambino recounted.
He now works for the World Bank but often blogs about political and social ills back home.
“She had a deep sense of integrity and sincerity. She left me inspired. Totoong Filipino, totoong Kristiyano,” he mused.
Even in death, Mrs. Aquino seemed to conjure the “Cory magic”.
The attendance last Friday evening was truly impressive, easily one of the best for an event that didn’t involve a beauty pageant or the ubiquitous “line dancing”.
Some say she was a Filipino phenomenon – a leader able to unite a usually fractious people through example, and an abiding faith in God and in the Filipino, even when they sometimes find it difficult to believe in themselves.
***
Indeed a legacy to be remembered.
More of Tita Cory news.
Showing posts with label Corazon Aquino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corazon Aquino. Show all posts
Political Overtones Surround Aquino Funeral
Political Overtones Surround Aquino Funeral
By SETH MYDANS
MANILA — Recalling the “people power” outpourings she inspired more than 20 years ago, more than 100,000 people thronged the streets of Manila as the body of former President Corazon C. Aquino was driven slowly through swirling winds and rain for burial on Wednesday.
In the days since Mrs. Aquino, 76, died of cancer on Saturday, crowds of mourners converged on her coffin as it passed through the streets and lay in state at Manila Cathedral.
The banners, the tears, the clouds of yellow confetti and the familiar chant of her name — “Cory! Cory! Cory!” — went beyond mourning to political statement, as the Philippines continues to wrestle with the democratic processes she restored when she came to power in 1986.
Among the many banners with slogans like “Auntie Cory we love you” were those with political messages like “Cory, a symbol of clean politics” and “Continue the fight against tyranny.”
“It is a political movement coming alive again to deliver a signal: Don’t tamper with that legacy,” said Amando Doronila, a veteran journalist and columnist.
As the current president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, nears the end of her term next year, one of the hottest issues here is whether her allies will succeed in extending her stay by amending the Constitution adopted under Mrs. Aquino in 1987.
Since the time of Ferdinand E. Marcos, whom Mrs. Aquino ousted as president after his 20 years of rule, Mrs. Aquino is the only president to have completed her term without trying to extend it through constitutional change.
Mrs. Aquino had spoken out against Mrs. Arroyo — and had led demonstrations calling for her resignation — and the bitterness between them remained so strong that Mrs. Arroyo found it politic not to attend the funeral Mass on Wednesday.
Instead, having cut short a visit to Washington for the occasion, she arrived at Manila’s international airport at 3 a.m. on Wednesday and drove through the dark directly to the cathedral. She entered by a back door, evading the mourners who continued to arrive to view the coffin through the night, and spent several minutes beside the bier.
“She knows the mood of the people,” said Randy David, chairman of the sociology department at the University of the Philippines. “She did not want to be in a situation where she would be heckled in front of the coffin.”
Vice President Noli de Castro was the only senior government official at the funeral Mass. Just as notable, two grown children of Mr. Marcos, Ferdinand Jr. and Imee, did make a brief, polite appearance at a service in the cathedral on Tuesday. “I don’t think we are seeing a reconciliation here of two powerful blocs of the political class,” Mr. David said. “The civility, the grace and the courtesies were superficial.”
The Marcos and Aquino clans have been rivals for many years. After a disputed election, Mr. Marcos was the target of Mrs. Aquino’s “people power” uprising, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked his tanks in the streets during a three-day standoff.
The Aquino family, for its part, blames Mr. Marcos for the assassination in 1983 of Mrs. Aquino’s husband, Benigno Aquino, who was his main challenger for power. That assassination was the spur to a movement that drove Mr. Marcos from office three years later. The appearance of the Marcos children carried a peculiar irony. Mr. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, and although his body has been returned to the Philippines, it remains unburied. It lies embalmed in a crypt in his hometown as his widow, Imelda, waits for permission to inter him in an official “heroes cemetery” in Manila. Although Mrs. Marcos did not attend Mrs. Aquino’s funeral, she did express her condolences and desire for reconciliation.
Mrs. Aquino’s family, on the other hand, spurned an invitation by the government for a state funeral. Her coffin was carried not on a military vehicle, but on the back of a flatbed truck, and she was buried in a family plot beside her husband. There were gestures of reconciliation from other political antagonists from her years as president, when she survived at least six coup attempts.
One man who seemed to be involved in most of those, a retired navy commodore named Rex Robles, apologized, saying, “On hindsight, it wasn’t the best thing to do.” “It was hard not to like Cory,” he told The Philippine Daily Inquirer. “You couldn’t possibly hurt her. She was well-mannered and she was very sincere. She was brave in a very quiet way.”
***
I'm sure Tita Cory already have forgiven the Marcoses. RIP Madam President, we'll see you soon.
More of Corazon Aquino news.
By SETH MYDANS
MANILA — Recalling the “people power” outpourings she inspired more than 20 years ago, more than 100,000 people thronged the streets of Manila as the body of former President Corazon C. Aquino was driven slowly through swirling winds and rain for burial on Wednesday.
In the days since Mrs. Aquino, 76, died of cancer on Saturday, crowds of mourners converged on her coffin as it passed through the streets and lay in state at Manila Cathedral.
The banners, the tears, the clouds of yellow confetti and the familiar chant of her name — “Cory! Cory! Cory!” — went beyond mourning to political statement, as the Philippines continues to wrestle with the democratic processes she restored when she came to power in 1986.
Among the many banners with slogans like “Auntie Cory we love you” were those with political messages like “Cory, a symbol of clean politics” and “Continue the fight against tyranny.”
“It is a political movement coming alive again to deliver a signal: Don’t tamper with that legacy,” said Amando Doronila, a veteran journalist and columnist.
As the current president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, nears the end of her term next year, one of the hottest issues here is whether her allies will succeed in extending her stay by amending the Constitution adopted under Mrs. Aquino in 1987.
Since the time of Ferdinand E. Marcos, whom Mrs. Aquino ousted as president after his 20 years of rule, Mrs. Aquino is the only president to have completed her term without trying to extend it through constitutional change.
Mrs. Aquino had spoken out against Mrs. Arroyo — and had led demonstrations calling for her resignation — and the bitterness between them remained so strong that Mrs. Arroyo found it politic not to attend the funeral Mass on Wednesday.
Instead, having cut short a visit to Washington for the occasion, she arrived at Manila’s international airport at 3 a.m. on Wednesday and drove through the dark directly to the cathedral. She entered by a back door, evading the mourners who continued to arrive to view the coffin through the night, and spent several minutes beside the bier.
“She knows the mood of the people,” said Randy David, chairman of the sociology department at the University of the Philippines. “She did not want to be in a situation where she would be heckled in front of the coffin.”
Vice President Noli de Castro was the only senior government official at the funeral Mass. Just as notable, two grown children of Mr. Marcos, Ferdinand Jr. and Imee, did make a brief, polite appearance at a service in the cathedral on Tuesday. “I don’t think we are seeing a reconciliation here of two powerful blocs of the political class,” Mr. David said. “The civility, the grace and the courtesies were superficial.”
The Marcos and Aquino clans have been rivals for many years. After a disputed election, Mr. Marcos was the target of Mrs. Aquino’s “people power” uprising, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked his tanks in the streets during a three-day standoff.
The Aquino family, for its part, blames Mr. Marcos for the assassination in 1983 of Mrs. Aquino’s husband, Benigno Aquino, who was his main challenger for power. That assassination was the spur to a movement that drove Mr. Marcos from office three years later. The appearance of the Marcos children carried a peculiar irony. Mr. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, and although his body has been returned to the Philippines, it remains unburied. It lies embalmed in a crypt in his hometown as his widow, Imelda, waits for permission to inter him in an official “heroes cemetery” in Manila. Although Mrs. Marcos did not attend Mrs. Aquino’s funeral, she did express her condolences and desire for reconciliation.
Mrs. Aquino’s family, on the other hand, spurned an invitation by the government for a state funeral. Her coffin was carried not on a military vehicle, but on the back of a flatbed truck, and she was buried in a family plot beside her husband. There were gestures of reconciliation from other political antagonists from her years as president, when she survived at least six coup attempts.
One man who seemed to be involved in most of those, a retired navy commodore named Rex Robles, apologized, saying, “On hindsight, it wasn’t the best thing to do.” “It was hard not to like Cory,” he told The Philippine Daily Inquirer. “You couldn’t possibly hurt her. She was well-mannered and she was very sincere. She was brave in a very quiet way.”
***
I'm sure Tita Cory already have forgiven the Marcoses. RIP Madam President, we'll see you soon.
More of Corazon Aquino news.
An Economic Legacy from Tita Cory
Banking & Finance
Written by Free Enterprise / Val Araneta
THE passing away of President Cory Aquino has aroused deep emotions from her beloved nation. One common reaction is to look back in history to reflect and appreciate the good things that she has done. The following article is a perspective on certain economic events that may give insights into the economic history of the Philippines.
July 1983
PEOPLE who were born in 1983 are now 26 years old. Persons 26 years old and younger constitute a very large part of our population. It is very important for them and all to appreciate that the Philippine economy was in bad shape then. The state monopolies created under martial rule were going bankrupt. The country was having a hard time servicing its foreign debt and not enough investors or commercial lending was coming in. The New People’s Army had become strong in the countryside and its assassination squads called sparrow units were killing soldiers and policemen with audacity in the towns and cities. In other words, the general business environment was very bad.
August 21, 1983
THE assassination of senator Benigno Aquino Jr. did not cause the economic crisis of 1983-85. It brought it to the open and definitely aggravated it. If the problem before August 21 was lack of foreign investment and bank lending getting tight, the problem now became capital flight, freeze on new lending and intense pressure on the exchange rate and the international reserves. Standby credit facilities could not be drawn.
October 17, 1983: Foreign-debt moratorium and ‘standstill’
IN October the Philippine government had to seek a moratorium on the repayment of principal of most of its foreign-currency-denominated debt, as well as that of government-owned and -controlled corporations and private corporations. There simply was not enough available foreign currency or credit lines to repay the maturing principal obligations. The foreign-currency debt of the country had to be restructured.
Debt restructuring and political upheaval
THE street protests, led by Cory Aquino, that swept the nation fueled a vicious circle of economic deterioration under the Marcos administration. Domestic and international investor confidence was very bad. The foreign debt-restructuring process under which the country was in did not give the government much leeway to introduce economic palliatives to appease business or consumers. On the other hand, foreign currency was rationed for the importation of the most essential goods and interest rates were very high to make it to rein in inflation and to make it expensive to speculate against the peso. During this period, the Philippines was pejoratively referred to as “the sick man of Asia” or a “Latin country in Asia” because other countries in Asia were enjoying high economic growth rates while the Philippines was enduring negative growth rates and a foreign debt-restructuring process similar to several countries in Latin America.
February 1986: The restoration of confidence
THE people power revolution of 1986 changed everything. The change was in national and international confidence. Confidence in the mandate of the new administration and that it was transparent was the all important thing. There were no drastic or immediate changes in economic policies. In fact, it was to the credit of the Aquino government that there was a smooth transition in the Cabinet departments, including government institutions and corporations in spite of the revolutionary manner of the change of government. The civil-service structures and tenures were respected.
The restoration of confidence in the country and the government was the first and most important economic legacy that President Aquino achieved for the county.
The rule of law and honoring of contracts
WHEN the Aquino government took over, the Philippine foreign debt-restructuring process had been going on for two-and-a-half years and in a particularly difficult phase. Philippine debt paper was trading at 50 percent or less of its face value. There was one school of thought among the Aquino advisers that it could be justified to repudiate or unilaterally reduce the principal and/or interest payments of debt that were incurred by the previous administration and apparently used for uneconomic projects or that corruption was committed in the financing of these projects and that the lenders had to share in the responsibility. The Aquino government, however, honored all obligations and continued working on the debt-restructuring negotiation process with its creditors. It did not miss a single interest payment or any principal repayment not covered by the debt standstill agreement. The country eventually finalized and signed its debt-restructuring agreements and, from 1992, it was able to access the international debt markets again.
Today the Philippines has one of, if not, the biggest outstanding issues of foreign-currency debt among Asian countries. It is able to access the international markets at prices that are oftentimes better than issuers with higher credit ratings. I would put great credit to President Aquino for this—that the market remembers and considers the Philippines as a country that never reneged on its foreign-debt obligations.
Privatization and the dismantling of monopolies
THE Cory Aquino administration almost immediately dismantled government monopolies and embarked on the privatization of government assets. The sugar-trading monopoly and the coconut-levy fund were dismantled. Proclamation 50, serving as the basic law for privatization, is one of the decrees of the revolutionary government. Among the corporations listed on the stock market under this proclamation were the Philippine National Bank in 1989 and Petron under the Ramos administration in 1994.
Lessons from the Aquino legacy
WE go back now to the next generation of Filipinos. What can we see in the economic meaning of 1983 and 1986? Looking at it simply, the country was led by a brilliant lawyer to near economic perdition and a housewife restored confidence and economic recovery. They both had the most brilliant economic and business advisers available with graduate degrees from Harvard, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, etc. As the nation searches for answers and meaning, it may be a good option to look beyond economics and look at the values that Cory Aquino represented. She represented idealism and the unwavering intention to do what is right. She believed in the democratic process even if it could work against her wishes. She did her best to institutionalize these values. That is why there was business confidence in her policies and institutions.
The 1987 Constitution is indicative of her desire to restore the democratic processes as soon as possible and to take the power to issue decrees with the effect of legislation away from her hands as soon as possible. The nation must not forget the background of the Cory Aquino legacy lest they be tempted to believe that it is good to trade off some democratic freedom for economic growth, and peace and order. The legacy of Cory Aquino shows that this is a fallacy.
***
Indeed an economic legacy from Tita Cory fueled best by her faith in God.
More of Cory Aquino news.
Written by Free Enterprise / Val Araneta
THE passing away of President Cory Aquino has aroused deep emotions from her beloved nation. One common reaction is to look back in history to reflect and appreciate the good things that she has done. The following article is a perspective on certain economic events that may give insights into the economic history of the Philippines.
July 1983
PEOPLE who were born in 1983 are now 26 years old. Persons 26 years old and younger constitute a very large part of our population. It is very important for them and all to appreciate that the Philippine economy was in bad shape then. The state monopolies created under martial rule were going bankrupt. The country was having a hard time servicing its foreign debt and not enough investors or commercial lending was coming in. The New People’s Army had become strong in the countryside and its assassination squads called sparrow units were killing soldiers and policemen with audacity in the towns and cities. In other words, the general business environment was very bad.
August 21, 1983
THE assassination of senator Benigno Aquino Jr. did not cause the economic crisis of 1983-85. It brought it to the open and definitely aggravated it. If the problem before August 21 was lack of foreign investment and bank lending getting tight, the problem now became capital flight, freeze on new lending and intense pressure on the exchange rate and the international reserves. Standby credit facilities could not be drawn.
October 17, 1983: Foreign-debt moratorium and ‘standstill’
IN October the Philippine government had to seek a moratorium on the repayment of principal of most of its foreign-currency-denominated debt, as well as that of government-owned and -controlled corporations and private corporations. There simply was not enough available foreign currency or credit lines to repay the maturing principal obligations. The foreign-currency debt of the country had to be restructured.
Debt restructuring and political upheaval
THE street protests, led by Cory Aquino, that swept the nation fueled a vicious circle of economic deterioration under the Marcos administration. Domestic and international investor confidence was very bad. The foreign debt-restructuring process under which the country was in did not give the government much leeway to introduce economic palliatives to appease business or consumers. On the other hand, foreign currency was rationed for the importation of the most essential goods and interest rates were very high to make it to rein in inflation and to make it expensive to speculate against the peso. During this period, the Philippines was pejoratively referred to as “the sick man of Asia” or a “Latin country in Asia” because other countries in Asia were enjoying high economic growth rates while the Philippines was enduring negative growth rates and a foreign debt-restructuring process similar to several countries in Latin America.
February 1986: The restoration of confidence
THE people power revolution of 1986 changed everything. The change was in national and international confidence. Confidence in the mandate of the new administration and that it was transparent was the all important thing. There were no drastic or immediate changes in economic policies. In fact, it was to the credit of the Aquino government that there was a smooth transition in the Cabinet departments, including government institutions and corporations in spite of the revolutionary manner of the change of government. The civil-service structures and tenures were respected.
The restoration of confidence in the country and the government was the first and most important economic legacy that President Aquino achieved for the county.
The rule of law and honoring of contracts
WHEN the Aquino government took over, the Philippine foreign debt-restructuring process had been going on for two-and-a-half years and in a particularly difficult phase. Philippine debt paper was trading at 50 percent or less of its face value. There was one school of thought among the Aquino advisers that it could be justified to repudiate or unilaterally reduce the principal and/or interest payments of debt that were incurred by the previous administration and apparently used for uneconomic projects or that corruption was committed in the financing of these projects and that the lenders had to share in the responsibility. The Aquino government, however, honored all obligations and continued working on the debt-restructuring negotiation process with its creditors. It did not miss a single interest payment or any principal repayment not covered by the debt standstill agreement. The country eventually finalized and signed its debt-restructuring agreements and, from 1992, it was able to access the international debt markets again.
Today the Philippines has one of, if not, the biggest outstanding issues of foreign-currency debt among Asian countries. It is able to access the international markets at prices that are oftentimes better than issuers with higher credit ratings. I would put great credit to President Aquino for this—that the market remembers and considers the Philippines as a country that never reneged on its foreign-debt obligations.
Privatization and the dismantling of monopolies
THE Cory Aquino administration almost immediately dismantled government monopolies and embarked on the privatization of government assets. The sugar-trading monopoly and the coconut-levy fund were dismantled. Proclamation 50, serving as the basic law for privatization, is one of the decrees of the revolutionary government. Among the corporations listed on the stock market under this proclamation were the Philippine National Bank in 1989 and Petron under the Ramos administration in 1994.
Lessons from the Aquino legacy
WE go back now to the next generation of Filipinos. What can we see in the economic meaning of 1983 and 1986? Looking at it simply, the country was led by a brilliant lawyer to near economic perdition and a housewife restored confidence and economic recovery. They both had the most brilliant economic and business advisers available with graduate degrees from Harvard, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, etc. As the nation searches for answers and meaning, it may be a good option to look beyond economics and look at the values that Cory Aquino represented. She represented idealism and the unwavering intention to do what is right. She believed in the democratic process even if it could work against her wishes. She did her best to institutionalize these values. That is why there was business confidence in her policies and institutions.
The 1987 Constitution is indicative of her desire to restore the democratic processes as soon as possible and to take the power to issue decrees with the effect of legislation away from her hands as soon as possible. The nation must not forget the background of the Cory Aquino legacy lest they be tempted to believe that it is good to trade off some democratic freedom for economic growth, and peace and order. The legacy of Cory Aquino shows that this is a fallacy.
***
Indeed an economic legacy from Tita Cory fueled best by her faith in God.
More of Cory Aquino news.
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