Excerpts from an interview with President Cory Aquino on 19 May 1997

Below are excerpts from the transcription of my interview with President Corazon Aquino in her office at the Jose Cojuangco and Sons Building in Makati City on 19 May 1997. (The entire transcription is appended in my undergraduate thesis.  I thought I should share this rare experience with President Aquino. The excerpts center on how she viewed her role as a political leader and the process of speech making during her presidency.):

 

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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 Philippines under his control. And the Commission on Elections was also a puppet commission at that time and the parliament was a puppet parliament also.  So I’ve tried to make people understand especially for those old enough to keep on remembering that the restoration of democracy was not an easy thing and that it required the sacrifices of so many people. In fact, not only Ninoy but so many people gave up their lives in order to keep the hope of democracy alive in the hearts and minds of all the people.

            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 America because I was going to bury Ninoy.  I was in Boston at that time.” So we could work on that, like “Three years ago, it was a sad farewell and then today exactly three years after, I have returned as President of the Philippines.” So I said I wanted to include of course the arrest of Ninoy and others like him, the hunger strike – we will have to include there. And also his being brought to Fort Magsaysay.  Anyway, I told him and Teddy Boy knows me so well and it wasn’t difficult for me to tell him what it was that I was going to say. So it worked out fine and it was met with much enthusiasm from the congressmen and in fact, that same day, when the congressmen met, they passed a resolution calling for the US government to give US $200 million dollars of assistance to the Philippine government. So as one senator marked, this is the biggest honorarium ever.  And I was of course just so pleased and happy that things just worked out well.

            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.

 

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