First part of the interview with President Corazon Aquino on 19 May 1997

This is the first part of the transcription of my interview with President Corazon Aquino on 19 May 1997 in her office in Makati City. I was 19 and came all the way from Los Baños to conduct the interview. I was undeniably starstruck and was just so awed by what she was telling me. In fact, I was too starstruck that at times, I could not get some of my questions right. During the interview, I kept referring to the interview schedule I sent her in February of the same year. I didn’t want to commit mistakes before President Aquino.

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 Italy” by the Friends of Sant’Egidio Community. The last two served as focal texts of two sections of my rhetorical criticism of President Aquino’s speeches. I have kept them all these years in one of the boxes of my "college memorabilia" back home. I consider them treasures especially because they were given to me by a national treasure herself.

 

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 University of Oregon in April 1997). I must tell you that when you sent me these questions (referring to the interview schedule), it gave me ideas on my speech at the University of Oregon.  They told me that I could talk about anything that I wanted but I felt it would be good to talk about leadership getting the idea from you.  Anyway…can I just give you this so that it would be easy for you?

            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 United States – when he was asked by Dave Brinkley (he was being interviewed via satellite) – that he would call for snap elections. So that was November. At 1:30 in the morning here, Ninoy’s brother in law, si Ken Kashiwahara, who is one of the TV commentators of ABC in America called me and said, “You know Cory, President Marcos has just announced that he would call for snap elections.” And oh, I was just so sad. And then at 6:30 or 7:30, former Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma was calling me up and said: “You know Cory, I’m calling for a meeting of the opposition leaders here at home because of these announcements of President Marcos, so could you be here?” I was there and I was feeling so sad and I said: “Oh gosh, what am I getting into?” Then I hoped that at least the election would be soon enough so that one million signatures would be hard to come by.  But even before the announcement, Chino Roces was ready, you know, calling on people to sign up. And when my friends and relatives asked me about it, I said: “If you want to be my friend, don’t sign that draft.”

            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 Korea. And at the age of 21, he was able to convince Luis Taruc who was a communist Supremo then to come down from the hills and to talk to President Ramon Magsaysay and the government.  And at the age of 23, he was elected mayor of his town. Then after that, 27 he was vice governor; 29, he became governor; 35, he was the youngest senator. So he knew that he wanted to become president and he was certainly working hard for it.  But then Marcos was so obsessed with power so he decided to declare martial law and the first person arrested was Ninoy.

            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 Zaire and, was it Congo?  But anyway, yes, I admire him.  I also had a good fortune to meet with King Baudouin of Belgium.  He, to me, was also quite outstanding and his humility was something that was – you know, there is a king whose ways are just so caring.  These are the people who have impressed me a lot.

            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?

 

Ms. Aquino: Well, ‘yun na nga.  The selflessness. There came a time when his own interests were no longer important… [And there was a time] when he was ambitious and he wanted to become president.  That was uppermost in his mind.  During the period of incarceration, he was completely transformed, while – maybe, he would still have wanted to be a leader – but more important to him was the restoration of our rights and freedom. And the fact that he was willing to come back here and gave up his life in the US.


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(The continuation of the interview is found in the preceding blog entry.)