Will the Filipino people react to the death of Filipino president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo the way they are reacting to the death of former president Corazon Aquino?
Former President Aquino, or Tita Cory, as we knew and loved her, was far from a perfect president. Six failed coup attempts, sub-par economic performance, a “for-show” agrarian reform program, and lukewarm environmental policy were among the many things that happened during her six-year tenure as head of the nation.
Yet when Tita Cory Aquino died this morning at age 76, grief spread like wildfire throughout the Philippines. Websites, television, radio, and print are all singing her praises. On paper, there wasn’t much of a legacy, but Tita Cory was an icon, a symbol representing the faith that we have in the ultimate triumph of good over not-so-good, of justice over injustice.
Legacy isn’t about the details, although the details matter. Legacy is all about the way one lives, how one remains true to one’s character, how one impacts another in a deep and meaningful way. Tita Cory, with the larger-than-life persona that she was forced to adopt upon the assassination of her husband, another hero, Ninoy, impacted the country’s history like few others did or ever will.
As the Philippines’ first female president and the first to rule after twenty years under the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, Cory Aquino took a brave and bold step for women. (In 1986, she became the first female Woman of the Year for TIME since 1952.) President Arroyo will inevitably be compared to President Aquino, and the comparisons, while largely unfair, will be significantly in favor of Tita Cory.
Tita Cory had integrity and nothing but love for the country. What she lacked in public administration skills, she all but made up for with sincerity, openness, and a willingness to admit she needed help or made a mistake. (Meanwhile, even Reuters has picked up on the Pulse Asia survey that says 42 percent of Filipinos polled believe Gloria Arroyo is the most corrupt Philippine leader in history.)
Integrity and love for the country. Take a tip, Madame President, because I doubt I would find many who would support the assertion that you have these two integral characteristics in that tin can you call a heart. Tita Cory would never have had a NBN-ZTE scandal, accusations of election rigging, “Hello Garci,” an Oakwood mutiny and several impeachment attempts, and, mostly importantly, she and Ninoy would never be accused of squirreling away billions of pesos in overseas accounts.
You will never be the woman Corazon Aquino was, and I hope her death – with you still out of the country, courting Barack Obama shamelessly – and the nation’s reaction to it will wake you to the realization that all the “accomplishments” in the past nine years you’ve led us, brought out at your penultimate valedictory work of fiction that you call a SONA, will never compare to the shameful legacy of corruption and iron-strong clinging to power that has characterized your tenure as president.
There are tears in my eyes, but these are not solely for the death of one of the nation’s most beloved leaders. These are tears I weep out of frustration that the current crop of nation’s leaders do not share Cory’s heart and love for us. These are tears of sorrow that it has come to this, that the country’s matriarch is gone, and no one looms bright over the horizon to serve as the country’s guardian angel.
What now, Philippines, what now?
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Well said Sir Ganns. Cory might not be the best president we had but there’s no denying how she loved this country very much.
Rest in Peace President Corazon Aquino with Ninoy now :)
Yes, RIP.
I have to say this comes across as a rather tasteless attack–isn’t there a better way to reflect on her death? Just my two cents.
You are entitled to your opinion, Kuya Kevin. I imagine you are not alone in your assessment of this blog entry; there are many readers out there who are probably disgusted with this entry. There are many eloquent eulogies online that paint a magnificent picture of President Aquino as icon, freedom fighter, woman, mother, and Filipino.
For me, the death of President Aquino reminded me of the stark differences between her and President Arroyo, and I felt the need to voice out my frustrations with this.
As Randell points out, history will prove itself kinder to the incumbent president. Meanwhile, I’ve spent the days leading up to Tita Cory’s death mulling over the 2010 elections, I’ve still to recover from the shock of misinformation propagated by President Arroyo’s SONA, and I’m growing increasingly frustrated with the seeming complacency of the Filipino public – myself included – to accepting corruption as a given in Filipino politics. We have endured six years under a regime that has never proven its legitimacy, under a woman who has backtracked on her word not to run for public office after three years in power, admitted to the Filipino people that she may have committed electoral fraud, is married to a man accused of significant corruption, and has shown no indications of delicadeza in letting go of power.
I reflected on Tita Cory’s death and the 20-odd years since she left office, looked at where the country has gone, and this blog entry is what I’ve come up with. I thought long and hard about posting this, thinking, perhaps, a third-person diatribe would suffice. In the end, this blog entry is harsh. Tita Cory herself asked GMA twice to step down; I am the least of GMA’s critics, a minnow in the ocean. My only consolation is that, judging from the Comments fields, I am not alone in feeling this way.
My sentiments exactly.
Have a wonderful reunion in heaven with Ninoy, Tita Cory!
What a sweet reunion that will be!
Sir Ganns, well said. Well said. Bato bato sa langit, tamaan sana si GMA. :)
She’ll never read this. Tiny fish in giant ocean.
Ninoy and Cory are together now in heaven. They should revise the Php 500 bill so that they will forever be in our hearts (and pockets, hehe).
Hahaha! That’s a thought. Cory deserves the honor as much as Diosdado Macapagal (on the PHP200).
Cory for me is a true Philippine hero.
Towards the end of her term, Cory was hugely unpopular – typical of Filipino politics. Many of her critics have branded her as a failure because of the problems besieging the county at that time. We were experiencing a crippling power shortage, an economy in recession, numerous coup attempts, etc. Unfairly, she was being projected as one of the worst Presidents the country ever had. Yet today, the country is singing a different tune. History, as it seems, is now fair to her for what she has done for all of us.
As to GMA, I often say that she is good executive with lousy politics. Macroeconomic stats will show that we are in a much better shape. International support for her administration, something we sorely need, is solid. On the other hand, her ‘politics’ is much to be desired for and the corruption issues is really something that makes Pinoys fume in anger, myself included. While I am not saying she is a great President, I do hope that much like Cory, history will likewise be fair to her — and we realize that she too did her part for the country.
My 2 cents.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Randell. They are appreciated.
You may be right; history is generally kinder to people. The travesties of the dictator Marcos, for instance, seem a lot less atrocious given 20, 30 years gone by. Perhaps Arroyo may be treated in a similar vein. I agree with many that GMA’s legacy will be her emphasis on infrastructure. I cannot overcome, however, the very real possibility, however, that these were grossly overpriced, with several officials, GMA notwithstanding, pocketing the difference.
Truly, corruption is this nation’s greatest scourge.
very well said, ganns. thank you for giving the words to what i feel.
Thank you, Reg. :)
Heya gans.
mano here(vcf comm volunteer hehe).
I wholeheartedly agree with just about verbatim with your entry.
Gloria could not hold a candle to Cory.
Again I reiterate that — apparent progress and development as boasted/proclaimed by the GMA admin and it’s allies are worthless in the absence of transparency, truth, and justice(due to its obstruction).
EDSA was a fight for ideals– the whole range of them and you cannot have one without the other:
Truth, justice, freedom & democracy, transparency and good government, progress and development.
Whatever significant accomplishments claimed by the present occupant of the palace by the pasig pales en toto in comparison to the legacy left by Corazon Aquino imho.
However to be fair,
quote:
“Tita Cory would never have had a NBN-ZTE scandal, accusations of election rigging, “Hello Garci,” an Oakwood mutiny and several impeachment attempts, and, mostly importantly, she and Ninoy would never be accused of squirreling away billions of pesos in overseas accounts.”
She did have, as mentioned: “Six failed coup attempts, sub-par economic performance, a “for-show” agrarian reform program, and lukewarm environmental policy ..”
The Cory administration did have “kamaganak inc.” , the “Mendiola Massacre”, and the non-inclusion of Hacienda Luisita in the carp(I believe..)
She was far from perfect..and this nonsense about sainthood(as seen on facebook) just doesn’t sound right.
I would agree to altering the 500 peso bill from just “Ninoy” to “Ninoy and Cory” as a most befitting honor to the Aquino couple.
All in all, I would accord President Cory the due respect as among our greatest presidents, along with possibly Quezon and Magsaysay.
May I add:
In EDSA(yep, I was there in 86), our aims were to end:
trapo politics
election cheating
corruption in government
It is my belief that we have gone downhill since Cory stepped down instead of uphill.
I hope Cory’s memory(and Ninoy’s) will be honored and that more and more of us will carry on with the fight that began at the then Manila International Airport in aug 21, 1983.
I agree with you. It really feels we’ve gone downhill in the past twenty years since Cory stepped down.