NINOY AND CORY: AN AUGUST COUPLE
Those aged below 20 appreciate the couple as parents of former President Noynoy Aquino. Those 21 to 25 appreciate them as politicians
With the second millennium cultural revolution ushered by information technology, I guess it could be assumed that millennials appreciate the word “august” as something or someone marked by majestic grandeur or dignity. I wonder, though, if they are aware that both Ninoy and Cory had gone back home to heaven in the month of August (Cory on 1 August 2009 and Ninoy on the 21 August 1983).
As the country celebrates Ninoy Aquino Day today, it could be an opportune moment to make the Filipino millennials aware of the Aquino couple’s sacrifices for the country as politicians and for their five children as exemplary parents.
I spontaneously asked five millennials from different backgrounds (a grade 10 student from Star of Hope Christian School, an Applied Physics student of UP Diliman, an Education student of Rizal Technological University majoring in English, an Education student of Rizal Technological University majoring in Math and an administrative staff of a travel agency) on what they know about Ninoy and Cory.
Those aged below 20 appreciate the couple as parents of former President Noynoy Aquino. Those 21 to 25 appreciate them as politicians.
The news editor of UP Manila Collegian (who is my third-degree cousin whom I have known since she was in preschool) did not give an answer to my inquiry about Ninoy and Cory when I did the chat with her through Facebook messenger.
She instead shared with me links of or about the senators of the 18th Philippine Congress. She’s a smart girl taking up Political Science. My guess is that for her, it is noblesse oblige to leave space for me to spontaneously express my thoughts on Ninoy and Cory.
These are my thoughts: Faith in God and in the Filipino people and love of family and of the Church make Ninoy and Cory stand out from the rest of politician couples of Philippine History. They seem to be God’s favorite with the way he let them shared with His cross and by which He has beautifully written their life story parallel with the life story of the Filipino people.
I was a National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections volunteer for the 1986 snap presidential election and I’m glad that in my own little way, I was able to help restore democracy in our country in a peaceful way.
A 21-year-old Applied Physics student at UP Diliman has this to say: “Ninoy Aquino was a senator and the major opposition of the Marcos regime, which led him to be imprisoned. He was assassinated at MIA (the Manila International Airport, now NAIA or Ninoy Aquino International Airport) when he returned from exile in US. Cory Aquino was the wife of Ninoy who became the main figure of the EDSA People Power Revolution after Ninoy’s death and subsequently became the President after Marcos was overthrown.”
I’m glad to have inquired from an Applied Physics student who has a good sense of history.
I remember his dad in the 1970s wearing a t-shirt that had on it Farah Fawcett with a cartoon balloon which says, “Ninoy is my hero.”
As husband and wife, Ninoy and Cory brought out the best in each other. The deep mutual love and respect between married couples are essential in building the foundation of a family which is the core of society. The children tend to be level-headed and caring when they experience a home filled with love and respect.
Having read and re-read the two volumes of
Cory: An Intimate Portrait (edited by Margie Penson-Juico), I remember Cory’s friend in Tarlac recounting that Cory once advised her that she and her husband should bring out the best in each other. Cory also taught her how to earn lots of graces by praying the Rosary with specific intentions in mind.
I also remember having read that when her only son, Noynoy, wanted to run for the senate after he completed his three terms in Congress, but Cory kept hoping that there would be a better way for him to serve the country other than by being a senator. She asked God for guidance in the Daily Mass she attended and in the praying of the Rosary. But she wholeheartedly accepted God’s will when she sensed that Noynoy was bent on seeking a seat in the senate. She became his number one campaigner. Because of Cory’s faith, God worked a miracle. At the onset of the counting of votes, Noynoy was in the first top three slots, too high for results to be tampered with in the so-called dagdag-bawas (add or subtract) style.
Ninoy, on the other hand, oriented his son to be observant and to ask the “why” of things. This spurred him to dare break the status quo of the institutionalized corruption and the “just getting by” attitude of the government agencies during his presidency (2010-2016). PNoy shared this in his 2015 speech at the State University of Tarlac.
When Senator Ninoy Aquino came back home from his exile in the US on 21 August 1983, he had a prepared speech which was never delivered but from which the young people of today have much to learn:
“National reconciliation and unity can be achieved but only with justice, including justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers... Subversion stems from economic, social and political causes and will not be solved by purely military solutions. It can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom and for the economy to get going once again, the working man must be given his just and rightful share of his labor and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope where there is so much uncertainty if not despair.”
Former President Noynoy himself resolutely worked to make the dream of his father for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers come true. He started the negotiations with Moro Islamic Liberation Front on the Bangsamoro Basic Law during his term as President of the country. His Liberal Party allies also started work on the Cordillera Organic Law in the Congress.
Cory has always been a devout Catholic while Ninoy surrendered himself totally to God and the Blessed Mother Mary during his incarceration under martial law.
In his eulogy to his Mom, Noynoy talked about his experience with the first black President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, who was also the first elected in a fully representative democratic election in 1994. When they met during Mandela’s state visit to the Philippines, Mandela remarked, “So you are the son. You know how to choose your parents correctly.” To which Noynoy answered, “Most definitely, Your Excellency.”
Ninoy and Cory have five children: Ballsy, Pinky, Noynoy, Viel and Kris.
As husband and wife, Ninoy and Cory brought out the best in each other. The deep mutual love and respect between married couples are essential in building the foundation of a family which is the core of society.