[...]
Gene: You mentioned about (sic) Teddy Locsin. How much should a political leader make use of speechwriters?
Ms. Aquino: Oh yeah, you have to. When you are president, you don’t have the time to be doing the speeches yourself.
The only speeches that I would do [were those] in the political rallies where it would be, more or less, extemporaneous. Like – I could not see if you’re old enough to remember – after the 1989 coup attempt, very serious coup attempt in December. I could not remember…Siguro mga 2 or 3 days after we defeated them here in
Gene: How do you “commune” with Teddy Locsin so that your ideas will be translated through your speeches?
Ms. Aquino: At first, I call him and tell him exactly what it is that I want to project. Like in my last speech, which was for the Fulbright Award for International Understanding, I told him that I would like to mention Nelson Mandela because I admire him so much. Then, I told him also what it was that I’ve done in the past [that] I hope to share with others. Normally, I include a personal experience or personal anecdote because it is then my experience that…people want to be told stories.
Gene: One last question: in a nutshell, who is Corazon C. Aquino?
Ms. Aquino: I want to be remembered as a sincere person: that whatever I say I truly mean. My work [as president and leader] was a continuation of [that of] Ninoy’s.
The Corazon C. Aquino now is a person who serves first and foremost, God; second, the Filipino people; and third, herself.
During our meeting, she gave me copies of three of her speeches: the speech she delivered when she accepted the J. William Fulbright Prize in 1996, her lecture at the University of Oregon on 24 April 1997, and a speech titled “Martyrdom and Redemption on the Filipino Highway to Peace” delivered at the International Prayer Congress for Peace in Florence, Italy on 22 October 1995. The first two speeches are notably printed on yellow colored paper while the last is published in a booklet titled “Corazon C. Aquino: A Week in
Gene S. Navera: The purpose of this interview is to know your perspective (of leadership) and how this perspective is translated through your speeches. First, I would like to know your concept of leadership.
Ms. Aquino: In fact I can just show you this (showing a copy of her speech at the
It says, “Allow me to summarize my thoughts on leadership. For me, leadership is about being sincere, being true to oneself and being true to others. And leadership is about being selfless – it is about caring to others more than oneself. It is about using power to better the quality of life of the underprivileged and the poor. And to be a leader one must be courageous; ready to risk one’s personal safety whenever the situations call for it or whenever the need arises.”
I also said that “Finally, leadership is about being humble – about acknowledging that one cannot do it alone.” And that when I was president, I made it a practice to consult with others especially in matters where their very lives will be affected. Also because I know that all power comes from the Almighty God. And that along with that power comes a corresponding obligation – to serve God and to serve one’s people. So in the end leadership is about service.
Gene: Who do you consider as models of leadership? (Among the living and those that died.)
Ms. Aquino: Well, I’ve always considered as my model my husband, Ninoy Aquino. And certainly, I learned a lot from him not only by his telling me but also by his actually living it, especially when he was in prison. And he was willing to suffer there so that he could provide an alternative to the dictatorship or to communism. Because at that time – I don’t know if you’re too young to remember this – at that time, Marcos would say that if people did not obey him or follow him, the alternative would be communism. And Ninoy felt that he and others like him, like Pepe Diokno, provided the third alternative and this is a democratic alternative. So not only did Ninoy expound on his ideas on leadership but most importantly, he practiced what he preached. And the fact that he was willing to come back. In spite of the threats, he believed it was his obligation to bring back a peaceful transfer of power. He wanted to talk to Marcos and ask him to call for elections so that there could be a process of succession. Because before, until the snap elections, nobody knew who would succeed Marcos in case he died or in case something happened to him because there was no clear process of succession.
Gene: How were you chosen?
Ms. Aquino: Well, it was like this. I had announced… I think this was before one of the sororities in UP and I was the guest speaker and someone asked me “Is there any particular situation where you would consider being a candidate (for President)?”
I really was not aspiring for the presidency. And prior to that speech, people had been telling me that, “You know, so many people are hoping that you would take the challenge. And that we are afraid that if you say no right away and if (you) won’t give it the time that is needed for you to think it over, people might just decide that it’s not worth their continuing to join in the protest marches.” So parang, it also made me think that it’s not just my own personal desires or considerations that have to be put into this. And I also have to think about other things and a number of people among them Senator Tañada – the late Senator Tañada – would tell me, “Alam mo Cory, ikaw talaga ang maaasahan na makapag-unite ng opposition. You know with these others we will be fragmented.”
So going back to the open forum, I said maybe if these two conditions arise: first if Marcos calls for snap elections. Originally, elections were supposed to be held in 1987 but then there was a talk Marcos would probably call for snap elections earlier than the 1987 scheduled one. The second consideration would be, maybe, if at least one million people would sign a draft. And I thought I’d be pretty safe with those considerations. And although I did not want to discourage them outright, I wanted to make the situations almost impossible. And at that time, for Marcos to declare and call for snap elections is unthinkable because he would still be there until 1987 so why should he call for early elections. And in the case of one million people signing up for me – it’s really quite a task because so many people were still afraid of the dictator. So I felt that I was more or less safe with those two conditions.
But then, in November of 1985, Marcos said on the David Brinkley Show in the
But anyway as the things turned out, after the snap elections, I would commit myself to the two conditions. Before that I used or liked to think that all of us human beings have a certain quota for suffering. OK, you, Gene, if you have suffered five or six times, that’s it. And you’ve done your job. I thought that my husband was imprisoned for seven years and seven months. He was assassinated and we really had a difficult time under the dictator and I felt we had already done our thing. And I had already served the opposition. I would lead protest marches and I felt, “Siguro, tama na naman itong ginagawa ko.” But I suppose there is never a quota for suffering and for service to the people. So in the end, I accepted and challenged the dictator.
Gene: Did you have any premonitions before you got the presidency?
Ms. Aquino: No, I never…It was Ninoy my husband who worked hard for it. He was only seventeen when he was a war correspondent in
In my case, I felt my primary obligation was to be a good wife and mother. And also because I was married to a politician, I felt it even more urgent to take care of my children. I think that it is no secret in this country of ours, even in other countries, that children of politicians tend to be left in the care of others. Well, this is in most cases. I didn’t say in every case. So you hear of many problems connected with children of politicians. So I was determined that that would not happen to my children. And so I was really a full-time mother. I would enroll them, I’d take care of all their material needs and would also help them in doing their homework and I would also be very good in attending PTA meetings and I (would) accompany them to movies and children’s parties. Talagang, full-time mother and also very supportive wife. So I never thought of a separate career for myself. I believed that that was my primary duty. Of course, we had maids but still my children always knew that I was there for them and if I had time, I would even pick them up in school. So to them, I was the very visible parent because my husband was very busy and so…In fairness to my husband, during Sundays, we’d all go to mass together. And he would take us out for lunch or for dinner once a week. For the older ones, we’d all take them out to the movies with us. But in so far as their daily needs were concerned, I was the one.
Gene: Do you have any woman leader in mind?
Ms. Aquino: Well not a leader of a state. But I admire Mother Teresa.
If I were to be asked (to choose) a present leader of state or government, I’d choose President Mandela. To me, it is just too amazing for one to have undergone so much suffering for having been incarcerated for 27 years and still come out of it without so much bitterness and still wanting to do so much for his people. It’s truly admirable and we humans are so lucky that there is someone like him that we can look up to – somebody so selfless and also so caring for others. Remember, he was also brokering on the talks between, I think
And of course, the Pope. I certainly am a fan of Pope John Paul II and again it amazes me that someone is able to accept all these burdens – do it with so much love for the people under his care.
Gene: In what terms have these models affected your leadership? Well, how did Ninoy, for instance, influence you?
[…]
Gene: How do you view yourself as a political leader?
Ms. Aquino: When I am asked what it is that I am proud of, well, I guess it is the fact that I was able to restore democracy in this country, of course with the help of people power and maybe…How old are you Gene?
Gene: Nineteen.
Ms. Aquino: And you know very little about martial law. Many people, especially the younger generation, think it was so easy that people just went to EDSA for four days and the dictator was ousted. And we’re able to restore democracy. But that is not the total story and in fact, we in the opposition then, from day one of martial law were standing up to the dictator. We were willing to take risks in order to keep the hopes alive.
When I accepted the challenge, there was no guarantee that I would win. In fact, what was very sure was that it would be a difficult fight and that the odds were against me because Marcos had all the money. He had the Armed Forces of the
Could you imagine, if everybody just surrendered to the dictator, then where would we be now?
Gene: Taking into account all the events in your term as president, what are those that mostly needed the invocation of political leadership?
Ms. Aquino: Well, I guess during the coup attempts. Those were the most serious threats not only to my leadership but also to the democracy that had just been restored.
Political leadership is not only confined to politics. To be a true leader, one must also believe in the Almighty. That one must accept the fact that he cannot do it alone.
Luckily for me, early on in my life, I was a firm believer in the power of prayer especially in my very trying moments and very difficult moments, I have also resorted to prayer and offered my problem to the Lord.
Then, I suppose you could also say that I continued to have faith in the people, that I believe that if one is fighting for a good and noble cause, then one will be able to influence others to support him or her.
Gene: Perhaps, we can now [move on] to the speeches. What are the basic considerations that help you in the process of speech making?
Ms. Aquino: Let me just tell you about my speeches, at least those that are best known. First there is my speech before the US Congress and this was in 1986. In preparing for the speech, I had asked – this is SOP – the members of the cabinet to instruct their staff to prepare drafts. So I remember I had about six drafts. Unfortunately, I didn’t like any of the drafts. And the thing was, they were following the same procedure.
Normally in the address before the US Congress, the visiting head of state or head of government will dwell on economic concern in one’s country and will reside in a whole litany of statistics. I had seen, I think, two videotapes of two heads of governments who had visited the US Congress and I was saying that I guess it was just all right to follow the same pattern if I do not have anything new or original to say. But I felt I had a very unique experience and I wanted to share this. Besides, in preparing for the speech, some American friends of mine and some of the members of the US Congress told me that, “Just be aware that you will not be speaking to the US Congress but, in fact, your message should reach out to the American people because this would be on television. And so do not confine yourself to thoughts that would interest the American senators and congressmen.”
So as the day was approaching and as I said I did not like any of the drafts, I called my number one speech writer, that is Teddy Locsin and I told him, “Teddy, I do not like any of these drafts. Let me tell you what I have in mind.” I said, “I want to tell the US Congress and the American people about our story – the story of how we restored democracy – this will have to include Ninoy and me and the Filipino people who composed the people power.” So he understood exactly what it was I wanted to say. So I said, “Three years ago I said goodbye
Another occasion was in my last State of the Nation Address before our Philippine Congress. I called Teddy Boy Locsin and said we will have a separate text to tell not only the congressmen but the Filipino people exactly what is the situation here in our country and we will furnish them with statistics and etceteras. But that will be in a separate booklet and I’d like to make this my farewell speech because I am not seeking reelection even (if) my legal advisers tell me that I’m not covered by the Constitution. So we talked on that and I gave him two quotes. What I did was that I read something and when I liked it I jotted it down. Sometimes, people in my cabinet especially Rene Saguisag really has such a collection of quotable quotes and they really come in very handy. And somehow, he has a quote for every occasion. A particular one which he gave me before – this was when – because I was feeling bad – I was feeling so much flak so he sent me this quotation from Abraham Lincoln. The quotation goes: “If one were to read much less answer all of the criticism leveled against this office, then one may as well just close shop because there is no way for one to have the time to answer all these criticisms.” So it felt good. So I really like that. If you are in high office and under a democracy, then you will not be spared from all of these criticisms. And I suppose it would not hurt so much if all the attacks were true but sometimes, they were really so false so that is when you just feel so hurt; but at the same time, as I said, that is part of being a leader.
Gene: How do you deal with these criticisms?
Ms. Aquino: What I did later on… I would only read from the front page of the newspapers in the morning. In the evening, I would read the columns. Well, to make sure that I did not miss up on anything, it was the duty of the press secretary and his staff to read all the newspapers and to be monitoring all the radio and television programs. And these were some of the things which urgently needed a statement from me. They would advise me on such a thing but otherwise, I felt I should not spoil my day so early in the morning reading all about these accusations.
Gene: What other speeches do you consider major?
Ms. Aquino: The one…I think this was after the August 1987 coup attempt and I was meeting with the businessmen. Well there was too much apprehension at that time and people were just too concerned that there will be another coup attempt and that they would finally succeed. So it was really very important to be able to boost their morale and to ask them again to give the support that they used to give me. So it was a very emotional speech.
[…]
