The Candid Cory (Final part of the May 19, 1997 interview)

This is the final part of the transcript of the interview with President Cory Aquino on 19 May 1997. In the transcript I note two instances of the former President laughing. I don’t exactly remember how she laughed (the interview was conducted more than twelve years ago), but if there is one thing that these instances show, it is that beyond the apotheosizing, the woman Filipinos and the world came to know as Cory was just as human as any one of us:

[...]

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 Makati.  The EDSA shrine was going to be inaugurated and I was there and that was the time I called [name of politician] a langaw (laughter*). That was me (laughter). In fact, nobody knew what I was going to say. Normally I try not to make so many appointments especially on the day that I’m going to give an important speech especially in a political rally because you cannot be reading anything when you’re addressing a huge crowd. So I really have to be myself and think carefully of what to say and what I hope will create an impact.

 

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.

 

*In the transcript of the interview appended in the thesis, I used the term ‘laugh’ instead of ‘laughter.’ I think I used it as a noun (*cringing*). It is an error that I cannot alter in the copies I sent to the university main library, the department library, my adviser, my critic, and to President Aquino. Well, that is the problem with the printed word. It immortalizes error.