In this post are tribute to the late President Cory Aquino shared by Makti Mayor Jojo Binay, a former lawyer of the family Raymond Fortun, and a cameraman who was covering during Cory’s time Eduardo de Guzma.
A Tribute to the late President Cory Aquino
Written By Makati Mayor Jojo Binay
When Cory arrived from Boston to bury Ninoy, I never saw her cry in public, not once. Even during the most trying moments of her presidency, she was always calm and composed. I have often wondered how she kept her composure even in the most trying moments. I now believe her quiet fortitude came from her unshakeable belief in God, her belief that He does not give us trials that we cannot bear.
One is hard pressed to imagine the soft-spoken Cory Aquino as a tough woman. But she displayed courage and toughness on several occasions.
She rejected suggestions from her more seasoned political advisers not to make a public appearance during the February 1986 EDSA Revolution. During a meeting at her sister’s house in Wack-Wack, her advisers were telling her “Cory, panalo na tayo. Huwag ka nang lumabas at baka madisgrasya ka pa.” She replied “Akala ko ba ang usapan natin handa tayong lahat to make the ultimate sacrifice? Lalabas ako.” The room fell silent. She then told her brother Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. to look for a venue. Peping then turned to me and told me to look for a venue. I scouted for one. Later that day, Cory stood at the POEA Building at the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue and addressed the crowd.
To me, that was the turning point of the EDSA Revolution. When Cory came out and was seen by the people at EDSA, she sent a message to the country that she was ready to assume the presidency.
At the height of the August 1987 coup attempt, I was in a meeting at Joker’s house when Cory called. Joker was then the Executive Secretary. He had stepped out so I took the call. Cory told me that she had been advised by some military commanders to leave Malacanang and to take shelter in Fort Bonifacio. I told her that sounded like a bad idea, and she said “Kaya nga. Kahit na anong mangyari, hindi ako aalis dito.” Afterwards, she gave orders for government forces to attack rebel positions.
And on the day Mrs. Arroyo declared a state of emergency, Cory led a march on Ayala Avenue. A phalanx of anti-riot policemen stood between her and the statue of her husband Ninoy at the corner of Paseo de Roxas. After a lot of pushing and shoving, the policemen gave way and Cory walked quietly to the statue where she laid a wreath. After the brief program, Cory took the microphone. Instead of delivering a political speech, she proceeded to lead the assembly in prayer.
Cory remained humble to the end. On the day she turned over the presidency to her successor, Fidel Ramos, she refused to take the presidential car to the Quirino Grandstand, saying she was no longer the president. After the program, as the guests mingled with the new president, Cory quietly made her way down the grandstand – alone, unattended. I ran to her side and helped her down the stairs and into a waiting car which brought her to Times St. and civilian life.
For those of us who were close to her, Cory was always there for you. Whenever her schedule permits, she would attend my birthday celebrations. And she was someone who was always ready to help in your time of need. When Malacanang suspended me in October 2006, she showed up at the Makati City Hall unannounced, and faced the media to declare her support for me. I am forever grateful to Cory for this gesture, and it will be one moment I will always remember.
Cory appointed me acting mayor of the then municipality of Makati on February 27 1986. I was the first local official to be appointed under her revolutionary government.
The February 1986 EDSA Revolution was more than a collective effort to overthrow a hated dictatorship. EDSA 1986 was for me also an expression of our collective desire for renewal: in ourselves, in our communities, and in our institutions. And Cory was the symbol of our desire for collective renewal.
What we have done in Makati, what we have achieved in Makati – a city that cares for its residents, where everyone, especially the poor, shares in the fruits of a vibrant economy, I believe this was Cory’s vision for our country.
During her presidency and even after, she would always introduce me as her favorite mayor. I must admit that I was thrilled whenever she would say those words. What I am today, I owe to Cory Aquino. I hope I have lived up to her expectations.
Cory Aquino was the personification of humility and selfless service, both as a public official and as private citizen. She was, in all respects, the quintessential servant-leader.
Cory provided us with the leadership we needed during those crucial years of rebuilding our democracy. She was also with us even when she was plain citizen Cory, joining the ranks of nameless, faceless Filipinos each time democracy and truth came under threat.
She was and will always be Cory Aquino, the mother of the nation and the shining example of servant-leadership that we sorely need today.
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The Cory I knew and idolized
A Tribute Written By Raymond Fortun
In 1980, i took this really hard scholarship program and i placed 3rd in Metro Manila, 4th nationwide. Yup, the Ferdinand E. Marcos scholarship program. (N.B. I screwed up during my 2nd sem and lost the scholarship, largely because i was too immature to handle the stress of being in this big campus in Diliman).
In 1983, this fellow named Ninoy Aquino was shot on the tarmac. Being a Marcos baby, i thought he was just a troublemaker and a communist (as the Marcos-controlled media labeled him). However, when a friend asked me to attend his wake at their residence along Times St. in Quezon City, I was shocked at the number of people patiently forming lines outside. My mom started buying Mr. & Ms magazine, and I had my reindoctrination of Ninoy, Marcos and Martial Law.
In 1985-86, my family campaigned for Cory and Doy Laurel. I didn’t eat my lunch; instead, i would buy Cory pins (Php1 each) and give them away. My mom and i practically attended every rally here in Metro Manila, and we were appointed as Cory coordinators in our barangay. I had personal experience of seeing the Marcos cheating machinery up close. When Congress/Speaker Yniguez declared Marcos the winner of the 1986 elections, i cried myself to sleep.
I joined the civil disobedience campaign after the elections, and had contacted my friends in the left that i was prepared to go underground if the protest actions did not bear any fruit. Enrile and Ramos saved me from this drastic move when they revolted against Marcos. I was at EDSA 1 all four (4) days. I was even one of those teargassed at Santolan/Katipunan in the morning of February 23, 1986.
Cory assumed the presidency in a bloodless revolution. She became my idol, regardless of her being a mere housewife na “walang alam”.
In September 2003, Kris had this gun-pointing incident with Joey Marquez. I had the honor and privilege to meet President Cory up close. She gave me specific instructions: (i) continue to speak for Kris and the entire Aquino family during the dispute; (ii) give the minimum demands of the family, and provide a deadline for the conditions to be met; and (iii) prepare for war. Cory was a cool but clever tactician. In a couple of days, Joey Marquez made peace with Kris.
Before i left that meeting, she handed me an autographed copy of a Manila Bulletin special feature on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Ninoy’s death. She wrote, “TO ARCHIE, WITH EVERY GOOD WISH, CORY AQUINO <Sept. 26, 2003>”. Yup, i told her that i would have been an NPA rebel were it not for her. She thought it was “cool”. This was the last time that we ever spoke, but my fondness for her had never diminished.
I will have the autographed article laminated tomorrow. I hope it remains with my family even after i’m gone.
So long, Tita Cory, and thanks. You gave us a reason to hope for a better Philippines.
Cory’s death brought back memories of love, kindness, courage and love of country.
Allow me to share with you, one story of one person I know, who in normal circumstances would not share this story for fear of being misinterpreted that he’s bragging of a past association. The truth is, he would rather keep mum about it.
But when he heard about Cory’s death, he remembered this incident as if it happened just the other day, as he allowed himself to succumbed to grief shared by many.
This is his story…
He was not a former cabinet member, not one of the known personalities in the Administration that came after the toppling of the Marcos regime, but this man will never forget and will forever cherished in his heart that just like the powerful men of that administration, he too was trusted by the lady in yellow.
“Minsan, nakakahiya, kasi siya pa ang laging nagpapasalamat sa amin, na para bang siya pa ang may karangalan na nakasama kami. Lagi pa niya kaming tinatanong kung kumain na kami o kung pagod na ba kami. Ganun siya. Mapagpakumbaba,” says Eduardo De Guzman, 53 years old, retired senior cameraman of TV-5 and one of the selected close-in cameramen of President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino under Radio-TV-Malacanang then spearheaded by Maria Montelibano.
De Guzman, as a news cameraman is known for his mild-mannered demeanor, one of the bests in his field, but not one who will come forward and brag about anything, but upon hearing the news of Cory’s death, he felt a deep sense of loss and grief and remembered instantly how for one unforgettable moment, the former president accorded him the highest honor that humbled him.
It was just a day after the devastating earthquake of July 16, 1990, De Guzman was on duty in Malacanang, he came on time, never the type to go absent without a valid reason, but while he was physically present, his mind was somewhere else, worried for what happened to his relatives and his town mates in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija. “Isa sa mga tinamaan ng lindol noon ang Nueva Ecija, tapos ang nababalita lang yung sa Cabanatuan, kako, paano yung mas malalayong lugar na noong mga panahong iyon, mahirap pang maabot, tulad ng bayan namin sa Gabaldon. Duty ako, pero di ako mapakali,” narrates De Guzman.
De Guzman was worried that the roads maybe blocked and that the supply of food for those in the remote parts of Nueva Ecija like Gabaldon would be scarce. He mustered the courage within him and asked his direct superior, Montelibano, if it’s possible that help could also be extended to those in other parts of Nueva Ecija and not only in Cabanatuan City. Montelibano discussed the matter not with the then Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos who is also the Chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council NDCC but directly to the president herself.
Montelibano never went back to De Guzman to tell him what happened to his request, not intentionally, De Guzman noted, but due to the hectic schedule that his direct boss had to attend to at that time. That very same day, the president was scheduled to record a statement and he was assigned, as usual to be the studio cameraman.
After President Aquino finished with her statement recorded and for nationwide broadcast related to the earthquake that hit the country in 1990, she walked towards him and smiled. In a motherly way, she placed her hand on his shoulder, tapped it as if to pacify him, “Ed, Huwag ka ng mag-alala, magpapadala tayo ng tulong sa mga kababayan mo. Manalangin ka na walang napinsala sa kanila,” President Aquino told him and then she left the room.
De Guzman recalled that his body shivered and he felt a rush of emotion that humbled him a 100X over. “Akalain mo, nilapitan ako. Hinawakan pa ako sa balikat at tinawag ako sa aking pangalan.” To be called by his first name by the President was a big deal for a production crew like him because De Guzman thought, he probably was just one of the persons in the room, serving at the pleasure of the president. That single gesture validated what they knew all along, that the president they’re serving, trusts them and consider them as part of her family.
Recalling that moment, De Guzman said, it was as if his own mother touched and comforted him.
Later that day, she was called to Montelibano’s office where his direct boss told him, the President has ordered that three truckloads of relief goods be deployed to Gabaldon and nearby remote areas that was also hit by the Earthquake. There was another message for De Guzman, one that really startled and humbled him. “Sabi ni Boss Maria, sabi raw ni presidente, ako na ang magdala ng relief goods sa Gabaldon at sa iba pang bayan na malalayo sa Nueva Ecija.”
And so it was in July of 1990, a cameraman from Malacanang led a relief mission of not just one but three military trucks full of relief goods to the remote towns of Nueva Ecija and it was made possible because the president listened to a plea of someone who thought he was just a face in the crowd, a nobody.
On the day of President Aquino’s burial, De Guzman vowed to serve his president again. “Kahit retired na ako, manghihiram ako ng camera, lalabas uli ako, kukuha uli ako ng video, sasamahan ko ang Sambayang Filipino sa paghahatid sa pangulong tunay na makapangyarihan pero mas matingkad ang pagiging mapagpakumbaba.”
Truly, how can anyone forget and not share this act of kindness that was just one of the many reasons why she is loved by many?
5 Comments
May she rest in peace. She will be truly missed. 🙁
everyone will miss the Late president.
marami syang magagandang nagawa at alaala sa Philippines
.-= Chris | Crisiboy.Com´s last blog ..Watch Corazon “Cory” Aquino Funeral and Burial Live Stream Online =-.
@Runescape I agree with that she is just the most greedy president ever.
@Dinah her name will be a legend!
Cory will be missed. She is the epitome of a Filipina, simple yet firm in her convictions.
.-= Dinah´s last blog ..August 5 Is A Special Non- Working Holiday =-.
The Office of the Presidency is not the problem. It is the present President, Gloria Arroyo who is the problem. She is the most divisive President we have ever seen.