Kim Dae Jung's Lesson

Comparison on Cory and Kim Dae Jung...


By SETH LIPSKY

The life of free Korea's ex-president, Kim Dae Jung, which came to an end this week, gives new meaning to the phrase "sunshine soldier." In some respects he was like Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, who died last month, a hero of the struggle for democracy in Asia. In other respects, however, Kim had a story that was more complex and dangerous—one that stands as a cautionary tale for Mr. Obama.

I met Kim in 1979, when he was being held under house arrest at Seoul and I was the managing editor of the Asian edition of The Wall Street Journal. I'd been told that if I went to his neighborhood, Dong-gyo Don, in the western section of South Korea's capital, and telephoned him from a pay phone, I would receive instructions. They were to walk down a nearby alley and, whatever happened, to avoid stopping, or talking, when approached by government security agents.

Sure enough, the moment I ducked into the alley I was swarmed by them. When I declined to speak and kept walking briskly, they fell away. One of Kim's aides waved me on from his gate, which, as soon as I scrambled inside, closed behind me with a welcome clink. Then I was ushered into the modest bungalow of the man who once marshaled crowds of half a million Koreans and nearly toppled the presidency of the country's strongman, Park Chung Hee.

Kim had left the country after losing the 1971 election. When President Park declared martial law in 1972, Kim began criticizing him from foreign soil, and in 1973, he was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo and brought back to his country. He was arrested in 1976 after he signed a manifesto against the president and drew a sentence of five years. His country was then, as now, in one of the most dangerous military standoffs on the planet.

In a living room lined with hundreds of books in Korean, Japanese and English, along with busts of Lincoln and Kennedy and a painting of Jesus Christ, Kim lit a pipe and began to sketch his goal—which was for what he called a "democratic reunification" with North Korea. He made the point, over and over again, that the democratization of the South would have to precede any reunification, and that any reunification would have to be done democratically.

Government agents, including some who were once friends and admirers, set Kim down as not just naïve but vain. I tended to discount that kind of talk, for dissidents or exiles often can seem flaky. But I did find it hard to believe that there was much hope for his vision. Any visitor to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea gets a visceral feel of how explosive and dangerous is the peninsula, where millions died during the 1950-53 war.

Kim didn't deny the extraordinary economic gains that Korea was starting to show under Park Chung Hee. He argued that the recent economic growth in non-Communist countries in Asia demonstrated "the advantage of the Free World compared to the communist countries." He also said it was no coincidence that the success was coming in Confucian countries. Yes, under Park there had been what Kim called "brilliant" economic growth. But he predicted that the more economic growth there was, the more social unrest there would be absent a democratic system.

The meeting with Kim was one of the most memorable in a long newspaper career, even though, I don't mind saying, I emerged highly doubtful that he had a future. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Only months later, Park Chung Hee was having dinner with several of his closest cronies when the chief of his intelligence service pulled out a pistol and shot him to death, an assassination that rocked the world. A new strongman, Chun Doo Hwan, eventually emerged and martial law was again declared.

This was followed by riots in the city of Kwangju, an uprising that was brutally suppressed with some 200 people, maybe more, were killed. Kim himself ended up being prosecuted, if that is the word, for his alleged role in the rebellion, even though he was in custody at the time. He was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted and he was later exiled to the U.S. He returned to Korea in 1985. Then, in 1988, the year in which Korea hosted the Olympics, democratic elections were held—and they have been held ever since.

In 1997, Kim Dae Jung became the first opposition leader to be elected president, one of the most astounding comebacks in political history, entering office as a liberal after decades of conservative rule. He stepped into a sharp economic downturn, as well, but he got the chance to try the theories that he had expounded to me through the clouds of pipe-smoke nearly 20 years before.

Kim's "sunshine policy," as it was called—détente and economic engagement with the North—gained him a meeting with the North Korean communist dictator, Kim Jong Il. It took place in 2000, and Kim himself was promptly awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. A period of détente, replete with various economic projects, followed.

Yet eventually scandal erupted, when it turned out that Kim had apparently steered hundreds of millions of dollars to the North Korean dictator to facilitate the summit. It seems he'd attempted his "democratic reunification" with democracy in only one of the two halves of Korea. South Koreans grew sick of it, abandoning the policy as a failure and bringing in a conservative in 2007.

This is something for Barack Obama, who praised Kim after his passing as a "champion of democracy and human rights," to study—not only with respect to Pyongyang but also the other regimes with which he seeks engagement before they have had their own democratic revolutions.

see more details here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204884404574362952261086262.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Stargazers and the eternal Ninoy-Cory love story

An interesting article about stargazers and the Aquinos

The stargazer is a flower commonly used to decorate caskets, but for TV personality Kris Aquino, it was a special sign used by her late father to assure the family that he was finally reunited with her mother in the afterlife.

A week before former President Corazon Aquino died last August 1, Kris said she had been informed that her aunt Tessie Aquino-Oreta had dreamt of her father, the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. In the dream, Ninoy had asked Oreta to visit his cancer-stricken wife, who was then confined at the Makati Medical Center, and bring her stargazers.

Kris made the revelation in a recent interview on her television program The Buzz. She noted that her aunt and her mother were on opposite sides in 2001 when Mrs. Aquino backed the ouster of former president Joseph Estrada, whom then senator Oreta had supported. All of them have since reconciled.

In an interview with GMANews.TV, Oreta confirmed the dream but made light of it. She said she visited Mrs. Aquino “(but) I did not (bring her flowers). Cory was asthmatic."

To Kris’ surprise, the staff of Heritage Memorial Services placed stargazers on her mother’s coffin in preparation for the wake, prompting her to break down and cry.

“It is dad’s sign that mom is good and they were together. That was the time I cried there. ‘Dun nila pinaramdam na magkasama na sila," she said.

Mrs. Aquino was laid to rest beside her husband, as she had wished, last August 5. As the nation commemorates the 26th anniversary of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino Friday, friends and supporters are expected to bring more flowers to their tombs at the Manila Memorial Park.

Kris, who had personally attended to the preparations for Mrs. Aquino’s wake, said the family did not order flowers because they knew the casket would be draped with the Philippine flag. Mrs. Aquino served as the country’s first woman president from 1986 to 1992.

But when the coffin was brought to the viewing room, a staff of the Heritage told them that they would temporarily put flowers on Mrs. Aquino's coffin.

"Yung flowers na pinagawa ng Heritage na I knew nothing of, nung pinatong ... they were stargazers," she said.

Pure of heart

Stargazers are lilies that are usually associated with meanings such as “pure of heart" and “heaven in your eyes." Along with its sister – the white Casablanca lily – stargazers are often offered to convey sympathy to the recipient.

After she told her niece about the dream, Oreta asked Kris if Cory likes stargazers. Kris recalled saying, "hindi masyado. She likes looking at flowers but because of her asthma, nahihirapan matagal."

After she retired from public service in 1992, Mrs. Aquino took to painting and gave away many of her works to friends. Although she liked to paint flowers, it is not known if stargazers were one of her subjects.

Moments before Cory passed away, Kris said her mother told her she could already see Ninoy fetching her.

Eternal love story

The Ninoy and Cory love story is one of the most celebrated love stories in the country. Some online users even described it as “eternal."

In his last letter to Cory, Ninoy assured her that his love “will never be equaled." He also thanked her for supporting him during the trying times when he was incarcerated under the Marcos regime.

“All the things I want to tell you may be capsulized in one line - - I love you! ... I realize I’ve been very stingy with praise and appreciation for all your efforts — but though unsaid — you know that as far I’m concerned, you are the best. That’s why we’ve lasted this long. There will only be one thing in the world I will never accept — that you love me more than I love you — because my love for you though unarticulated will never be equaled," a portion of the letter read.

Aside from the letter, Ninoy also expressed his love for Cory through a poem entitled “I fell in love with the same woman thrice." The poem was written at Fort Bonifacio in 1973 as his gift to Cory for their 19th wedding anniversary.

“Looming from the battle/ her courage will never fade. Amidst the hardships she has remained/ undaunted and unafraid. She is calm and composed / she is God’s lovely maid," the poem read


see more from here http://www.gmanews.tv/story/170357/stargazers-and-the-eternal-ninoy-cory-love-story

Hidden cameras and Cory’s huge suitcase

An interesting article about photos taken during Ninoy's imprisonement...

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

Filed Under: Cory Aquino, Books, Prison
If you were one of those who visited Ninoy Aquino during the eight years (1972 to 1980) that he was in military prison, chances are a photograph of yourself was among the hundreds that the military studied and kept in their dossiers for whatever purpose they might have served.

And chances are your photo is now in the archives of Ninoy’s widow, former President Corazon Aquino, who passed away on Aug. 1 and had a massive send-off that could rival Ninoy’s. Hadn’t Cory sent you a copy when she was alive?

During her presidency that started after the 1986 People Power Revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship, President Aquino received a stack of photographs from the military. Many of the original copies the military gave her had notes on the back, she told me during an interview some years ago. She had not asked for the photos, she had never seen them before.

“There were hundreds of these photographs,” she said when I showed her an enlarged copy she had sent a nun friend some years ago. Yes, she remembered having sent it, along with a letter, a frame and medicine, and being thanked warmly for it.

Cory recalled then that every person who visited Ninoy in prison had first to be put on a list and go through a process of approval. During visits, visitors had to be thoroughly frisked, groped, if not almost undressed and, of course, photographed without their being aware of it. Ninoy’s family and friends had to endure this demeaning process. The nervous ones could not help wondering what the repercussions of the visits might be on them.

Receiving the photos from the military when she was President was a surprise for Cory, the photos having come from the institution that held Ninoy in custody and was suspected of having had something to do with her husband’s assassination upon his return from exile in 1983. But beholding the black and white images must have been also disconcerting to say the least, if not utterly painful. Among the previously unpublished photos were those of the bloodied and dead Ninoy taken by military photographers when his body arrived in the military camp. These looked utterly raw, so unlike those taken at the tarmac that, by now, most Filipinos have memorized and framed in their memories.

The military photos taken in prison show the Aquino family during regular visits with Ninoy. Friends who came had to contend with flashbulbs and telephoto lenses. And what about cameras, hidden and unhidden, and bugging devices?

Ms Aquino recalled the first time she came for a conjugal visit. Ninoy’s room was about 4 X 5 square yards. “On the first scheduled conjugal visit, I arrived in Fort Bonifacio lugging a new suitcase. Ninoy was surprised and teased me, ‘Why the big suitcase? Cory, you’re staying here only one night, not one week.’

“I said nothing and instead opened my suitcase and took out a dark blue towel and some rubber bands. I then asked Ninoy to cover the camera with the towel and secure it with the rubber bands. Then I brought out a dark blue sheet and a roll of masking tape.

“Ninoy and I then proceeded to cover the entire one-way mirror with the sheet and stuck the sheet to the wall using a lot of masking tape. We knew there were electronic bugs to record all our conversations but unfortunately neither Ninoy nor I knew anything about debugging a room.

“Heaven knows how many hundreds of cassette tapes (were) in the possession of the military, recording all the Ninoy and Cory conversations!”

Some of the photographs Cory Aquino received from the military were used in the coffee-table book “Ninoy: Ideals and Ideologies.” The book contains rare photographs complemented by Ninoy’s own words expressing “the ideals that he fought, lived and died for.”

Many of the photographs remain unpublished. But, after her term was over, Cory went over the photographs and had many of them reproduced so she could send them to friends who were in the photos.

Among these photos was that of Ninoy being greeted by Sr. Christine Tan, RGS with a buss. With her were activist Maria Feria and Amparo Castro, the wife of lawyer Dakila Castro. Cory sent a copy each to the women visitors in the photos.

Sr. Christine Tan, a Good Shepherd nun who lived among the poor and who died in 2003, was a close friend of Ninoy and Cory and stood by them during the dark days of the dictatorship. Cory appointed her as one of the drafters of the 1987 Constitution.

“I was not aware that we were being photographed,” Feria told the Inquirer.

“This was at the amphitheater,” Cory said when shown the photo, “the place where Ninoy received visitors.” How could she forget?

Neither had she forgotten the true friends who visited and stood by them. The photographs that the military had unearthed for her helped her remember.

More information can be found here http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090820-221126/Hidden-cameras-and-Corys-huge-suitcase

Of RP blue chips and art

Do you know Anthoni Salim?  Read more below

by Doris C. Dumlao

Salim in Cory’s wake

UNKNOWN TO many, Indonesian tycoon Anthoni Salim, whose family is the principal stockholder of First Pacific, flew all the way from Indonesia to pay his last respects to the late Cory Aquino. But probably because he wasn’t recognized by the local media (as how he prefers it to be anyway), no pictures of him appeared among the VIPs spotted during the wake.

It is no secret that First Pacific, under MVP and Salim, is a great believer in Cory’s administration and was among the first foreign groups that started aggressively betting their chips on the Philippines after the 1986 People Power Revolution.

details here: http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view/20090818-220939/Of-RP-blue-chips-and-art

Cory: The ultimate power of a positive woman

All praise for president Cory on this article.  Read on...

By Mylene Mendoza-Dayrit

Do you want to be a positive woman of powerful influence?  Do you want to make a lasting impression on the lives of people around you?  You can become a positive woman — no matter where you find yourself right now — simply by choosing to allow God’s power and strength to pour through you.” Those were the highlighted words on the back cover of the book The Power of A Positive Woman by Karol Ladd (available at National Book Store) that made me grab the book. The book was certainly inspiring, citing the intrinsic qualities of a woman that make her great.

I was in college when Ninoy Aquino offered his life for the Filipino people. I was in EDSA and most of the events thereafter just like most people I know. And just like other parents, my husband and I gathered our kids to wait with the crowds on Ayala and Osmeña for the funeral procession of the late beloved President Corazon Aquino.  My kids were definitely amazed and at the same time baffled at how she had so much influence.

While explaining to them how Ninoy and Cory gave us the democracy we now enjoy, I also pointed out to them that President Cory is an inspiration to all Filipinos. For women especially, she provides hope, being proof herself that with faith and courage, the impossible can be possible.

Let me borrow the seven principles cited by Ladd to explain why indeed Cory had so much positive influence in this world (even in death and beyond it).

In the so many days of television tribute featuring friends and family of President Cory, I heard something about her painting seven crosses, possibly alluding to the coup attempts under her term.  Crosses are a symbol of suffering, but they can also be a sign of invincible strength.  Here are the seven reasons why Cory is so loved and revered:

A Woman Of Faith

In the homily of Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ given at the Ateneo-Rockwell Chapel March 27, 2008, he said, “The woman in yellow speaks to us even in her sickness.  But the message I hear from her is more than just ‘Do not be afraid.’ The message she has been saying to us by the way she has lived her life and the message she is saying to us even now in her weakness is: ‘Do everything you can within the limits of your human capability; but trust even more in the God who can make all things possible.”

A Woman Of Wisdom

She dismissed herself as an unlikely candidate when Ninoy died and just led the search committee for an opposition standard bearer.  They had a list of 12 who eventually all agreed that she was the best candidate.  In faith, she accepted the turn of events as God’s will and that of the people.

Her then Finance Secretary Jess Estanislao quoted Nick Platt, who served as US ambassador towards the end of President Cory’s term: “She is a woman who, better than anyone else, understood that democracy demands self-restraint, and she has given an outstanding example of that.”

Estanislao continues, “Having done her homework extremely well indeed, President Cory was able to lay the groundwork for many others to build on.  Only a leader with the conviction and commitment of President Cory could have done such painstaking homework as the undertaking called for a gain, for the long-term benefit of her country and her people.”

A Woman Of Prayer

In the book In the Name of Democracy and Prayer by President Cory (published by Anvil in 1995) she said, “I was asked in a small gathering of university students recently what of my life as president I would like to see continued. Without hesitation, I said the power of prayer.

By prayer, one acknowledges the weakness of the human person, no matter how high the office he or she may hold and how great the authority they wield. The higher the office, the greater the power, the more one should pray.”

In a contribution she made in 2002 for a commemorative collection in honor of Cardinal Sin she wrote, “For us who are a people of faith, Christians and Muslims alike, it is a time to return to our true faith. True faith must be rooted in prayer, in our trust of a loving father, in loving sacrifice of self for the greater good of all. The problems of peace and poverty, social justice, and good governance are concerns of everyone and everyone must do his or her share. For us Catholics, my counsel is to pray the Rosary daily for graces, for peace, that goodwill prevail over evil, in homes, in our country and in the world. Through prayer, you can discover your own role, to make a difference during these crucial times. Your faith will lead you to hope and work for a brighter future for your children, and to make your own loving sacrifice for love of country and fellowmen.”

A Woman Of Love

During her term, President Cory founded the Bigay Puso Foundation which, as she herself explained in speeches in her official website www.coryaquino.ph, was organized as a group of wives of cabinet members, generals, and businessmen tasked to take care of delivering relief goods in times of natural calamities like typhoons and earthquakes.

In the book Cory, Mercy Tuason, founding member of Bigay Puso and now ambassador to the Vatican, relates, “The poor were closest to her heart.  I remember that when customs confiscated smuggled apples, Cory called on Bea Zobel and me to deliver them to Smokey Mountain.  As soon as we got there, we were swarmed by the slum-dwellers, who asked if they could see Cory to personally thank her. She invited them to Malacañang not only to receive their gratitude but also to listen to their problems.”

A Woman Of Courage

In Margie Juico’s book, Cory An Intimate Portrait, Billy Esposo, then RPN 9 president and now Philippine STAR columnist, said, “The Cory C. Aquino I shall always remember with fondness is the woman with nerves of steel, unwavering character, and untypical courage. I’m sure Cory Aquino was neither born nor bred to be the heroine she is now recognized worldwide — the Asian Joan of Arc.”

Former President Fidel Ramos, who was a member of her cabinet as Secretary of Defense, said, “Not just one or two, but nine memorable experiences with President Cory define the steel core within her.”

A Woman Of Hope & Joy

In almost all the images flashed on television and featured in print, Cory was always smiling.  I believe that this is a true sign of contentment.  She was at peace, knowing that she was following God’s will.

Her simplicity was admirable. “Being sincere is to be simple. It is the same with sincerity in power: Be yourself completely,” Cory said in her book on democracy and prayer.

I believe that President Barack Obama summed it up well when he said in his public condolences to the Aquino family, “Her courage, determination, and moral leadership are an inspiration to us all and exemplify the best in the Filipino nation.”

More details here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=496851&publicationSubCategoryId=80

Ballsy Aquino-Cruz: 'Mom took all the hurts for us'

an interview with Cory's daughter Ballsy


Why me?” Ballsy Aquino-Cruz asked when told by Margie Juico, the former appointments secretary of her mom President Cory Aquino, that we wanted to interview her.

“I’m the most boring one here. Of course, Kris (Aquino) is the most popular personality,” Ballsy adds.

“Or why not Pinky (Aquino-Abellada), she’s the funniest, so very Aquino in that sense? She’s so pamparampam, meaning she’s so entertaining. We kid her: ‘Pinky, when God was looking at the assemblyline during creation, He forgot to to give you nerves.’ She’s so hyper and driven, you know. Pinky just finished her masters. She took her BS Economics at UP during martial law.’ She’s so go-go-go that when she decides on something, she gives it her all.

“Viel and I are more alike. But once, Mom told her: ’It’ good to be simple, but not too much.’

“When Mom died, Viel said she had no trouble looking for the right mourning clothes, because most of her clothes are in black, gray and brown.

“Viel says: ‘If you need matronic stuff, go to Ballsy.’ That’s because I have always been going with our mom all these years, and all the sosyalan I’ve attended have been with our mom’s friends.”

Why indeed, Ballsy? Because while we and the rest of the bereaved nation joined Kris Aquino shedding tears on television during the necrological rites for Cory, there Ballsy was, standing solid as a rock, her composure so calm, her aura so dignified, giving us strength and comfort when we needed it.

The big revelation was that when Ballsy started talking, she talked nonstop, never for a moment faltering. And she certainly was never boring. She was a most warm subject, generous with her stories. So very Aquino.

Here are excerpts from our Q&A:

1. It’s been 15 days since your mom passed away. For sure, you all miss her. Has she ever made her presence felt by you or any of your siblings?

Not yet, not even a paramdam. In fact, I would ask her: “Mom, please appear to me, even in a dream.” But I think Dad appeared to Mom the Tuesday before her death. Kris said she saw Mom looking upward, smiling and calling Ninoy’s name. That was when Kris told Mom: “Go, go, Mom, we’ll be okay.” But then Mom was into morphine. Later, the doctor said our mom was in a state of hepatic coma or deep sleep.

2. How about your dad Ninoy? Did he ever manifest himself to you or send a message?

Pinky is the only lucky one among us who saw Dad. Pinky said she saw Dad in a dream, and Dad was talking to her. “Kamusta na kayo? Ang guwapo ni Jesus! Ang saya dito (How are you guys? Jesus is so handsome! And this is such a happy place).”

3. What would you miss most about your mom?

You know, ever since Dad died in l983, Mom has been both mom and dad to us. She just knew what to say and do in whatever situation. In fact, when Dad was alive, we would tell Mom whatever problem or news we had to tell, but never to Dad. It was Mom who would break the news to Dad. When I wanted to get married, I said, ‘Mom, bahala ka na to tell Dad. You see, our dad could never bear the thought of bringing any of his daughters to the altar. For him, no man was ever good enough for any of his daughters.

Our mom was our bridge, our glue. Even when Dad was killed, she was always there to take all the hurts for us.When we got the news, my mom was so calm, and she told us never to get hysterical. She made us all kneel and pray the rosary with her. “This is how your dad wanted to go; he wanted to be able to do something for the country,” she told us.

4. People noted that during the necrological rites for your mom, you seemed the most serene, the most poised. In fact, they say you have that aura of dignity and that you in fact, look like Cory the most.

Funny but when I was a kid, they said I looked like an Aquino with my big and bulging eyes. I had such round eyes, my dad wanted to call me One Ball, and when I was born at eight and a half pounds, I looked like one big ball. Later, he changed it to Ballsy ... I really have my dad’s eyebrows that look putol (cut short), and my ears, my nose — my “hawk nose” — they’re so Aquino, our relatives tell me.

5. Some people say you should run because you are so like Cory, you would be an inspiration too.

Me, run? Politics is not for me, that’s why I made sure I married someone who would not enter politics. To be in politics, you really have to like it ... When Noynoy was running for senator, we didn’t even want to accept funds from certain people. Viel, who is the most scrupulous among us, would say: “Ay, wag tayo tumanggap diyan, smuggler yan ... Contributions? Pwede ba, wag na? Maghahanap na lang ako. (Let’s not accept help from people like smugglers. Contributions? Can I just look for other sources?)”

Honesty and integrity have been so imbibed in us by our parents. Even our Lola Aurora would tell us: “Be careful. El cambio, el cambio, mahirap!”

6. So how do you feel about the clamor to make your brother Noynoy run for president or vice president?

You know, when we were campaigning for Noynoy for senator, we would hear Mass at the Greenbelt chapel daily, and our mom really worked hard. We were all stressed because we heard that GMA would make sure Noynoy would lose ... So now, when we heard about this move to make Noynoy run for higher office, Viel texted him with a sad emoticon: “Noynoy, huwag na, please.” We told him, “Noy, nice naman what people are saying pero wag na, baka may magka-tumor pa diyan (don’t anymore, or someone among us might have a tumor due to stress.)”

 But then there are people who tell us that being president is destiny. “Your mom never dreamed of becoming president, but look what happened.”

7. It looks like Noynoy will have a first lady if ever he becomes president.

Yes, his girlfriend (Shalani Soledad) is very nice and very pretty ... Mom once said that the best head of state is someone without a wife and without parents who could be meddling in affairs of the state ... But then, a politician will always need a supportive wife.

8. What was the most touching thing that Cory did for you that made you cry?

When I had my hysterectomy three years ago, Mom was there in the hospital every day. When I was bleeding, Mom knew I never wanted to go to hospitals for checkups, and it was she who accompanied me and convinced me to go. After my operation, Mom texted me: “I already have paintings that I will be giving as gifts to your doctors.” She also gave me money for my hospital bills. “Don’t worry about anything, just think of making yourself stronger,”she said.

9. How about your most unforgettable moment when she was president?

When we met Nelson Mandela, he told me: “You really know how to choose a mother!” To which my mom said: “And I can say that I really know how to choose a daughter!”

10. Margie (Juico) says you and your siblings have been spending time lately at your family’s Times Street residence the past days, organizing your mom’s things in preparation for a renovation. What are you choosing from the mementos from your mom?

In Mom’s room I found this journal with her handwritten quotations from the Bible. We agreed that Mom’s engagement ring should go to Kris. Pinky and Viel are more concerned with things they can pass on to their daughters, and Noynoy obviously is not even looking, because he says: “Anyway, I got all of Dad’s stuff.” Yes, he has been using Dad’s things, such as his cufflinks ... But actually, we each have our share of Mom’s journals and paintings ... As for her clothes and shoes, we were thinking of giving them away so people close to us, even our household help, can make use of them, because that’s what our mom would have wanted us to do ... But then Kris said we should keep them first and have them catalogued because her ABS-CBN bosses are planning to make a movie on our mom, and they would need some of her things.

10. Do you plan to put some Cory memorabilia on display at the Ninoy Aquino Museum in Tarlac?

Part of the museum already has been devoted to Mom. The gifts she received as president are already on display there, as well as the dress she wore during her oath-taking.

11. What are in the plans for the renovation to be done on Times Street?

That house was built in 1961, so we clearly need to install new plumbing and new electrical wiring. At first we thought of just renovating, but we were advised that it would be more practical to just build a new one. Some people are saying we shouldn’t tear the house down for sentimental reasons, but our mom was a practical person, and she would agree on having a new structure built instead. When Mom got sick, she told us, her daughters, that none of us would surely be interested in Times Street (as we have our own homes already), so she said: “Give it na to Noynoy.”

Mama Kris — that’s what we like calling her now — will take care of building the new house, especially the financial aspect. It will be a two-storey house that will include two rooms for Kris and Josh, since Times Street is so near ABS-CBN, and it was automatic for Josh to stay there after classes.

You know, Kris said she would really take care of Noynoy. Nice that she takes care even of his wardrobe, because Noynoy is absolutely walang vanity. He just keeps on wearing old barongs, and he likes them as long as they’re comfortable. That’s why Kris has asked Paul Cabral, JC Buendia and Randy Ortiz to do new barongs for Noynoy.

12. Speaking of houses, does your family still maintain the house in Boston where your family lived in exile during the Marcos years?

For a time, Pinky stayed there even as we had all gone back to Manila, because she was working with IBM in Boston. Then, when it was time for her to pack up, she went through the kitchen and never reached the rest of the house because she broke into tears when she remembered the happy times with our dad in that house.

We decided to sell it, but what a group of Filipino doctors did was raise money to buy it and save the house for the Aquino Foundation’s future museum. Eventually, they couldn’t afford the cost of maintaining it, and the house had to be sold to another buyer.

We were able to revisit our house though, because the new owner graciously allowed us to enter. My mom wanted her grandchildren to see the house where their grandfather Ninoy once lived. The facade is still the same, but the house interiors look so much nicer now. You see, when we were there, we were just so focused on spending precious time with Dad who had spent years in prison since the declaration of martial law.

source here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=496236&publicationSubCategoryId=86

Nonie Uy: Cory’s Cebuana pal

this is about Cory's Cebuana friend.


Nonie Uy couldn’t sleep. The widow from Cebu City was just asked to be one of 19 speakers in the necrological rites for former president Corazon Aquino on Aug. 4, a day before Aquino’s burial at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.

It was an honor but Nonie was daunted by the task: how could she express in a three-minute speech how she loved and would miss the woman, an icon of democracy, whose simplicity and sincerity touched her life?

Their relationship started with their husbands, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and Cebu businessman Victor Uy in the 1960s.

In his bachelor days, Victor would drive Ninoy around Cebu whenever the senator was in town. Ninoy later stood as godfather in baptism to the Uy couple’s son.

The couple was later introduced to Cory by Nancy Cuenco, wife of now Cebu City South Dist. Rep. Antonio Cuenco, during the opening of a Ninoy Aquino memorabilia exhibit held in a university in Cebu.

Nancy was close to Cory as both were considered “congressional wives” of husbands who used to be members of the old Batasang Pambansa.

Victor asked Cory if she could be the godmother in the confirmation of their eldest son.

However, fate had other plans and anti-government protests intensified, leading to a bloodless people power revolt in 1986 that ousted president Ferdinand Marcos and installed Cory as the first female president of the Philippines.

When Victor repeated the family’s request through Nancy, the late president did something the couple did not expect.

She asked them to hold the confirmation, a Catholic sacrament for those who are baptized and have reached the age of reason, in the church near the Palace and to hold the reception in Malacañang.

The couple felt honored. “It was a very big thing for us,” said Nonie.

When Victor died in 1993 Cory, who was on her way to Rome, dropped by the wake in Cebu City to pay her respects.

“(It was) the turning point of my eternal gratitude for her. I was hers for life. I told her and everyone, it was like a 21-gun salute for a very simple albeit good man, my husband Victor,” she added.

When Cory received the Ramon Magsaysay award, Nonie was the only non-family member invited to the ceremony in Manila.

“When we were together, we did girl talk…more on chika. No politics, no hidden agenda. I never asked for anything. What we had was just friendship,” said Nonie.

Cory liked shopping for small, inexpensive trinkets - “butingting,” “borloloys”. Nonie once took her to a Japanese store that sold items for P50 and below.

Cory’s favorite dishes here were Cebu lechon (roast pig) and danggit (smoked fish).

Nonie would bring her lechon each time she visited Cory in her house on Times Street in Quezon City.

She said Cory tried to persuade her to try her new pastime, painting. When that didn’t prosper, Cory sent her paintings set in canvas, fans, bags and scarves which are all displayed in Uy’s modest home in barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.

She read in the newspapers that Cory was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last year.

When she learned later that Cory had started to eat, she called her up and asked if she wanted lechon.

“She didn’t say no. Sometimes she would say ‘wag na wag na’ but this time, she didn’t say anything. So I brought her lechon. She prepared lunch for us in the house of Ballsy (Aquino Cruz, Cory’s eldest daughter),” Nonie said.

The former president was in a house dress when she welcomed Nonie.

“How do I look? How does your friend look?” Cory asked with a smile. Although she lost a lot of weight, she didn’t look weak, remembers Nonie.

Then Cory ‘s condition worsened and she fell into a coma.

Nonie said she visited Cory at the Makati Medical Center and held her frail hand to tell her she loved her.

Still, Nonie hoped for a a miracle especially after a text message announcing Aquino’s death turned out to be a false alarm.

Last Aug. 1, Nonie was at the Edsa Shangri-La when she received a text from the daughter of a friend who worked at Makati Medical Center that Cory had died.

It didn’t sink in immediately. She said she only cried when she saw Cory’s pictures and realized her friend was gone.

The next day, a Sunday, Nonie said she was shocked to receive a call from TV celebrity Boy Abunda who said the Aquino family had asked her to be one of the 19 close friends of Cory who would give a eulogy.

She was told to keep the speech within three minutes, to submit a draft at 4 p.m. on Monday and show up at the Manila Hotel coffee shop at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, two hours before the memorial service at the Manila Cathedral where Cory lay in state.

Nonie was able to finish her seven-paragraph speech near the deadline.

The 19 eulogy speakers met at the coffee shop where they were briefed. They had to bow first to the altar, go to the podium to speak and then return to their seat.

In her tribute, Nonie promised that Cory’s “children and grandchildren will always have a home and a family in Cebu.”

After her speech, Nonie said she could not help but speak privately to her departed friend.



more here: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20090816-220567/Nonie-Uy-Corys-Cebuana-pal

God with us

a wonderful reflection by Fr. Randy Figuracion

It was my first time to see the original “Hapag ng Pag-asa” displayed in an exhibit at the Arts Center in SM Cebu. Joey Velasco, the artist behind this now famous painting, allowed it to be brought here along with several of his other obras for public viewing. Since he created it in 2005, Joey has drawn national attention with this art work depicting Jesus breaking bread with impoverished street children in a makeshift table in place of his apostles. The concept itself is unique. He says he did it for his children to remind them to count their blessings. Noticing that his children were wasting food and they were choosy in their meals, he wanted to give them a visual reminder that other children have little or nothing to eat at all. Such imagery in a 48 x 96-inch oil in canvas has become a real masterpiece in religious art. What started as a personal project has received national acclaim and more.

In some of his conferences, he shared that he did not receive formal art schooling but picked up his craft from many mentors as well as observing great painters like Amorsolo, Rembrandt or Juan Luna. It all started when he was stricken with a kidney ailment that led him to experience depression and darkness. He even prayed that God would throw him a rope; instead the Lord reached out through a paintbrush. Painting brought about his catharsis, leading him back to himself to see the light. Now he claims to have found new life and with it a new mission of putting his faith in canvas. He doesn’t call himself an artist but a “heartist” — an artist with a heart for the poor. In fact, he considers himself just a paintbrush being used by the Divine Artist to share in the power to create and bring about changes in society for the better. Many more paintings came thereafter including a book to explain the children of the “Hapag” entitled “They have Jesus.”

I learned two things from Joey’s paintings. First, I realize each person can make a difference. Every man or woman has the capacity to affect change whether one is a priest, a lay man, a sister, a housewife, an artist or an artisan. What is important is that one has the heart to do it. I watched with deep admiration the televised burial of former president Corazon C. Aquino last week. It was a historical funeral that merits the record as one of the longest and most attended in recent memory. Many compared it with that of her husband Ninoy in 1983 but with a poignant difference. While Ninoy’s internment was characterized by rage; Cory’s was an expression of love and gratitude. Listening to the praises and accolades heaped on her by those who knew her in life, I could only sigh and say that indeed honors simply fade away. Only the good that one did in one’s lifetime will ever remain. People stood under the rain to bid goodbye to Cory for making a difference in their lives.

In his own way, Joey’s painting have touched people’s lives. He makes use of the gift that God has given him to depict a haunting reality in our society. He is like a prophet conscienticizing us to become a Jesus for others. One of his recent paintings I saw is a Jesus seated on a bench while a poor boy washes his feet. And as one looks at the boy closer, his other leg is missing. The point is clear: even those who have less can serve and make a difference. Those who open themselves to help others always end up getting more than what they shared. They serve Jesus.

The second lesson I learned is to have hope always. The reason for this hope is because God is with us. In almost all of Joey’s paintings Jesus is always present. He is with street children, with farmers, with old men or those afflicted with down syndrome. Joey finds God in ordinary life experiences and sees God in people. These become for him a sacred encounter with the divine which he captures in his palette. One touching story he narrated was about a 2nd year college student who said she was an atheist. She was visiting his exhibit at the UST Fine Art Department and pointing to the “Hapag” she revealed “if that is what God is all about, then it has awakened a part of me.” Several months later, Joey got a note from her disclosing that she has already been baptized.

I am inspired by Joey’s art which he uses as a medium to teach and to challenge. As it teaches me to look at my life from the point of view of the Divine Artist to appreciate all the bright colors of my life, it also challenges me not to despair over my shadows. Everyone can find God in the most unexpected places in their lives and find hope. We know we are never truly alone. God is with us.


source here: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20090816-220591/God-with-us