A friend of mine had shown me a post on the ABS-CBN Facebook site. It read “Cory Aquino. Democracy icon. How do you #RememberCoryAquino?” I was half expecting people who would leave comments there to still shower praises upon the former president and icon of the People Power Revolution here in the Philippines. And like benign0 before me had written, I was kinda surprised that what turned out was overwhelmingly the opposite.
The first questions that came to mind were: why did ABS-CBN suddenly bring up such a question (not that it’s anything out of the blue for their usual pro-Aquino propaganda)? Was there any special reason for them to do so? It’s not yet August 21, the day Ninoy Aquino was shot dead. So I asked around and looked on the Internet: August 1 is Cory Aquino’s death anniversary.
Silly me. If I had not stumbled upon that Facebook post I would not have remembered! Does that make me a traitor to the Filipino people?
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It should not.
Thus we now come to the categorical statement which I had made with the title of this post:
I don’t remember Cory Aquino.
Growing up in the 80’s I remember numerous coup attempts, lots of brown-outs (known as blackouts overseas).
After Cory stepped down, I remember her anointed successor Fidel Ramos having to deal with leftovers from her term and faring better than she did. She and her clan continued to meddle in politics until this very day.
When Erap Estrada came to power, she was among those who called for him to step down amid his unsuitability for president and the ongoing plunder trial. This is where EDSA II came in, but this time it had become a mere joke compared to the first one.
During former president Arroyo’s terms as president, she quickly switched from being Arroyo’s ally to being a vocal enemy of hers, most likely when Arroyo set her eyes on the Cojuangco clan’s beloved Hacienda Luisita. What was supposed to be EDSA IV following an impeachment bid against Arroyo that didn’t really go far instead fizzled out for lack of real direction and lack of a legitimate successor.
And then Cory died in 2009. This triggered the sympathy vote that catapulted her son Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino to the highest government position in 2010. BS Aquino supposedly warned of another EDSA-like event if failure of elections, i.e. he didn’t win, occurred. But nothing occurred, and by that time, street revolutions had lost all its attractiveness and usefulness.
Filipinos sure know how to milk and bleed everything dry.
Cory Aquino and her clan were once revered by the Filipino people as saints who rescued them from “the clutches of the evil dictator Marcos.” This was once accepted as absolute truth. Fast forward almost 30 years later, we find a growing number of Filipinos disillusioned and disappointed with what her presidency was, and what the presidency of BS Aquino is turning out to be.
A lot of people will say that we simply traded one type of dictatorship for another one. In the end, we’re no better off now compared to then. The same lack of direction and bahala-na mentality that, in hindsight, characterized EDSA I still remain today. The cronyism that is supposedly a hallmark of Marcos’ period is still here; only the people have changed. The corruption that people were supposedly tired of merely continued on.
In other words, Filipinos pinned their hopes on Cory Aquino to change their futures for the better, and 30 years hence, they feel the sting same as ever. Let’s be realistic, though; not everything was Cory’s fault. Filipinos themselves are to blame for their own problems too. They never did anything about their weak government institutions, their culture of mediocrity and impunity, and failed to be vigilant in holding their leaders accountable. They were too caught up in the mystique of the then EDSA revolution to start thinking straight.
After her term, however, there should have been no excuses anymore.
Quite simply, I don’t remember Cory Aquino for the simple reason that there’s nothing to remember except all the failures of the Filipino people in the past along with it. This, however, seems to be no problem for a people lacking in foresight and forever stuck in their past.
Let’s get real, people: EDSA is DEAD. The mystique of People Power is DEAD. Most of all, former President Corazon Aquino is DEAD. It’s time for Filipinos to keep it that way.
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
How would you value your freedom? Can you put peso value on it? If you cannot then maybe you can credit Cory for that. Cory had organized a civil disobedience campaign against Marcos afer she was cheated in the 1986 presidential elections. Cory toppled the dictator, issued a new constitution and bring back regular elections.
Under Marcos, the press and the Supreme Court are in his pockets. The Batasan serves as his rubber stamp, the Ilokano military execute activists and political opponents without moral compunction.
Under Cory you can lambast the government, the Supreme Court and the Senators/Congressmen without going to prison. Can you put peso value in that?
Was she a failure as a President? What is the parameter? Economically yes, but anyone who replaced Marcos is bound to fail becaue of 20 years of economic mismanagement. You cannot undo in six years whatn you have screwed up for 20 long years.
The highly politicized military tried to establish a junta during Cory, thanks to Marcos spoiling the military and making its officials like bloated crocodiles. They staged 6 coup d’etats which scared investors away.
Here is an American author who put value on Cory’s effort:
“Unlike 1953 also, the Aquino administration is confronted with a politicized military alienated from the civilian leadership. Alienation stems from the fact that (1) disproportionately llocano officers lace a dominantly Tagalog regime: (2) Marcos’ cronies still fuel that alienation with cash; (3) the imposition of “reform and discipline.” which was the rhetoric of General lleto, threatened the still entrenched extra-legal incomes ol key officers; (-1) Congress again exercises some supervision over the military through appropriations and confirmation of appointments, a role deeply resented by the military even before martial law; (5) military salaries that have dropped in real terms for several years until very recently showed no signs of substantial improvements; and finally, and most important, the military was given a political role by Marcos, then seized for itself an even greater one in February 1986, and finds ii difficult to retreat to the subordinate status that the constitution requires. If a sense of shared interest should develop between a disgruntled segment of the economic elite and the officer corps in the face of a reinvigorated insurgency, then the president’s task of controlling the military will become even more difficult. This tandem could even lead to a military junta. And if it does, it would initiate a vicious circle leading to a new era of political decay.”
“President Aquino has displayed a high level of personal competence that only her acquaintances had expected. She early showed a modesty, personal integrity, and seeming responsiveness to mass demands that set her apart from her predecessor. Her first challenge was to transform her loosely structured administration into a more effective one and to persuade the economic elite, from which she springs, as well as the military, to be responsive themselves to wide-ranging popular demands. She started with an electoral victory and a peaceful manifestation of People Power against the tanks which created overwhelming democratic legitimacy in the eyes of the public (something Marcos never achieved) and a new sense of national pride among Filipinos generally. (Filipino Politics, Development and Decay, David Wurfel, p. 339-40).”
Sniffing too much cocaine and blasting another of your BS as usual eh Ken Rosenberg? Yes I’m talking to you attorney with a small “a” who cheated the BAR exams.
And that’s exactly what we call YELLOW HISTORY. The so called Mismanagement has actually become a Catchphrase to discredit Good Management. Now let’s compare Cory’s management with EVERY President… she’s definitely the WORST. Make that TWO WORST.
Incorrect. If there had really been that so-called freedom, why have there still been a lot of journalist deaths since 1986?
It is a disgrace that reporters can still be killed after 1986, in a country not in a state of war.
Nobody wants to admit that Cory was just a better actress than her daughter.
Sir jcc what do you mean execute activists? Maybe its communists? China puppets? Enlighten me sir… Tnx
Your Jaundice is getting worse. You need to see a doctor.
GMA also warned the “the world would not accept EDSA 3”. It was said as an attempt to keep her corrupt ass in office…and it worked.
DO NOT FORGET: a politically un-stable country WILL NOT attract Foreign Inverstment.(Why the Philippines even NEEDS F.I. is still a mystery?)Will de-stabilize the countries currency and cause economic chaos/disaster(as if Filipino’s do not experience that already?).
LISTEN: these POLITICIANS are each protectors of their own piece of the Philippine economy. Each ‘dynasty/family’ jockeying for the political edge in allies which produces power. Any time their is a power struggle between two ‘dynasties/families’ the circus commences. the circus that ensues involves slander, corruption allegations (they are usually real, maybe exaggerated..but generally true), and the occasional murder of a rival. the point being that the Filippine people are NEVER consulted about these on-going feuds and fail to realize that the ‘people’ are NOTHING to these oligarchs who are only protecting their own considerations/piece of the pie, SEE?
So until this ‘charade’ masquerading as a functioning ‘democracy'(substitute ‘kleptocracy’ if ya like) is somehow FIXED/thrown in the garbage….NOTHING will change and the Filippine people will continue to chase their tails till their collective heads fall-off, GET IT?
BTW, Mrs. Aquino was a simple house-wife who supported her husband and ended up serving her country instead,in her murdered husband’s place. All accounts of her seem to agree that she was a nice LADY, did her best at the job she was asked to take.
IF anyone wants to throw FECAL MATTER on the dead because they do not like the dead person’s Son,NOT COOL. MRS.AQUINO is not her Son, and whatever bitter-ass pill any 20 something swallowed today it will not diminish the fact that the LADY was a GIANT. Her Son is a different story, u kno…the one about the village idiot?
Question: Will the Filipino, the ever fickle Filipino, treat the LADY and her legacy unkindly? Well, have your husband murdered then get asked to run your country,then do it as best you can with a really badly dealt hand and see how you measure up!do all that and see how you like being judged, even in death.
The “simple housewife” was the comptroller for AdT, the family business and corporate entity of Hacienda Luisita, for 12 years prior to being president.
I did not say she was an idiot. her resume is not necessary to know that she wasn’t.
Simple housewife of a house so large it has its own zip code.
Even when she was alive, she looked the other way while her family did everything the Marcoses did.
Must be nice for Manileños to tell people in Tarlac how great the Aquinos were for them.
It sure correct that it all depends on what kind of information you get stocked with from which proceed one’s reasoning and that is you, The Man! You read too much and only Yellow Horde propaganda! Truth to tell the only loyalty the AQUINO -Cojuangco Clan has loyalty for is their oligarchic mentality -the Hacienda most of all!
Patay na si Cory so sana bigyan ng kaunting respeto. Ang dami nyo reklamo, ika nga – huwag mo itanong anong nagawa ng gobyerno sa inyo bagkus tanungin mo ang sarili mo kung ano nagawa mo! Kaya tayo di naasenso lahat ng sisi sa patay natin ibinubunton! Dun kayo magreklamo sa buhay mga bobo.
Tsk tsk, this again, seriously?
Do you really expect us to believe your propaganda, you stupid sack of yellow shit?
Is that really all you can post here?
You think that you are posting the truth when all you are posting here is your obvious butt hurt at the truth about your precious incompetent president’s family
Seriously, nagiging sirang plaka ka na.
Troll Harder, dumbass
Cry me a river dummkopf.
That’s the very pathetic excuse of any Yellow Zombie lurking around.
I mean, think about it. Think about it, 20 years all she has to show for was ABS-CBN, canneries and breweries. If that is your idea of PROGRESS, then thank God I’m still laughing at your stupid ass miles and miles away. 😀
Ikaw ang BOBO NGA MGA BOBO. 😛
Typical comment from a Yellow Zombie. Did you get butthurt by reading some FACTS?
The idiot’s prolonged silence means he has already lost the argument or he lacks the I.Q. to even come up with a response.
Either way, he has failed yet again in his attempt to change our minds with his propaganda.
yeah…the more daw na ipinagbubunyi ang pangalan ni cory aquino ng mga tao at isinisigaw the more daw na nahihirapan yan sa impiyerno.. kaya sigaw pa more ang pangalang CORY AQUINO…masyadong makasalan yan at daming pinapatay na tao…kaya siguradong nagdudusa ang kaluluwa niyan sa impiyerno…credit grabber at mapanira.. lahat ay gustong kunin ng di nila pag aari..
Even our historians believe that Marcos was a joke on his later terms. Thank you for enlightening us again from our Philippine history class:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/08/01/13/remembercoryaquino-good-and-bad
Your historians are a JOKE. The truth is that history won’t be kind to your president’s family once they are outed as FRAUDS.
Face the truth, abs cbn is a fucking JOKE like YOU.
Deal with it.
Staple these realist comments of this Facebook post in your face and weep dummkopf: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS/posts/10151509582115168?comment_id=26942954&offset=0&total_comments=648
Read this and WEEP you stupid sack of shit:
And this one: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/magazine/cory-aquino-s-downhill-slide.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
See? Even foreign media thinks that cory is a joke.
Your tears are delicious and you have lost again.
Seriously, you are a laughing stock here.
You’re totally brainwashed by Yellow Propaganda. Thank you for enlightening us again from the darkness of sheer idiocy and ignorance from your ilk:
http://www.mabuhayradio.com/philippine-presidency/not-getting-mad-at-but-getting-even-with-tita-cory
Fuck the historians They are just chismosos with a degree in history.
Ang dami naman nuytards dito.
I was watching TV Patrol earlier this morning and they hail Cory Aquino as “Ina ng Demokrasya” or also known as the Mother of Democracy. I’m sorry but that is bullshit. One woman is being interviewed and she said that she’ll remember Cory as that. She’s NOT the Mother of Democracy even though she’s being used by the cronies.
The Aquino clan is just like the rest of the ‘dynasties’ in the country.
THE ONE EXCEPTION IS MRS.AQUINO. Cory did not declare to the people she wanted to be President. THE COUNTRY ASKED HER and she graciously accepted the job. How well she did as a leader is surely debatable BUT one thing is for sure: Cory Aquino was not a coward. A slight, frail looking house-wife was asked to lead her country and I think she did the best she could. AND all the while standing up to the COWARDS that murdered her husband in cold-blood.
The INTERNATIONAL community regards her as an ICONIC figure in the struggle for democracy in the 3rd world.
How she is remembered by her fellow countrymen? HA,it matters very little. Few ever attain an INTERNATIONAL stature such as Mrs. Aquino.
Todays crop of Filipino politicians are an INTERNATIONAL joke in comparison, that also includes her Son: “Do the Blow-fish” Noy-Noy, LMAO!
My original jcc account in this blog is no longer allowed by Benign0.. Because my comments are effective in neutralizing the propaganda side of this blog.
One comment on his article about cory aquino was deleted…
This comment may be deleted too, so this new account.
But I expressed no hard feeling Benign0. I see you as a fraud the first time. 🙂
Nah, your account was blocked because of your ineffective comments
Troll Harder
I went to the facebook link above and 1 guy says that the DICTATOR MARCOS was the TRUE FATHER of Democracy.
(PLEASE, if anyone needs to have the idiocy of that remark explained, well, forget it and just kill yourself!)
with illiterates like the idiot that posted that comment running around the Filippines…HA, the country is fuckin DOOMED!
Wow, you actually left out an important part of the message. Way to massacre a message and turn it against someone huh?
You stated only “DICTATOR MARCOS was the TRUE FATHER of Democracy,” disregarding the poster’s reason so that you could attack his comment. Very Yellowish Tactic indeed, you’re definitely a Yellow Army!
“President Marcos was the real father of Democracy in this country He save the Philippines from becoming a communist state when he declared martial law he crippled the power of the communist…. sige reverse psychology nyo”
The quote above is the complete message you moron. Which reminds me, what did Noynoy said when he was asked about PORK Barrel Abolition? He said “I won’t abolish it!” So much for the TUWID NA DAAN. What’s more idiotic is that YELLOW ARMY still believes his stupid slogan. I can only laugh out loud at your double standard thinking, you YELLOW MINIONS!
NO I AM NOT, I support not a single politician. Marcos was a dictator.
why he did it is a moot point, and you probably believe the bull shit story you were fed too!
I feel sorry for you, so I will not insult you. although it wouldn’t take much.
Oh really? Authoritarian and Dictator are different. If you think he was being a dictator, feel free to delude yourself. Point of a fact is, compare every President Philippines ever had, factor what makes them Good and what makes them Bad, filter TRUTH and LIES based on DOCUMENTS and FACTS (not forged and fake) then come up with a conclusion. Yeah, definitely Marcos was the best, the only one with a concrete economic, industrialization, short and long term plan and blueprint and platform for the Philippines. Reasoning that he ruled for 21 years is but a shallow reason. He wouldn’t rule for that long if a lot of Pilipino people, particularly the farmers and folks of various provinces didn’t want him to lead. Also, feel free to insult people’s intelligence, that’s your right and you’re entitled to do so as well but make sure they wouldn’t be able to make concrete counter arguments so that they’d shut up like a knock-outed losers.
you all wanna know the real cory aquino? go ask the family of Salvador “Doy” Laurel.
You expect the Laurel family to be unbiased?
Doy Laurel resented the fact that Cory Aquino’s presence and that she received the endorsement of the Americans. He felt that he deserved the support of both the local opposition, and the Americans’ backing because while everyone else was either in prison or in exile, he and his group led the political opposition to Marcos in the Batasang Pambansa. It wasn’t until US diplomat Philip Habib forced a deal between Cory and Doy when he made it clear that the US would only back an anti-Marcos movement with Cory as its face.
The Laurels give an uncoloured account of the “real” Cory Aquino? That’ll happen when Danilo Lim names the “powerful forces” running the BOC.
Pork barrel was started by one incompetent aquino in malacanan, and its continuation is now being supported by another aquino waste of space. Incredible – few families have done so much damage by doing so little.
A housewife and now a houseboy
Looks like all the dirty laundry had been dug up in the present (such as this article and this), so Cory Magic is officially dead with more people knowing the facts. I’m with Fallen Angel on this one; leave it dead. Our hopes should be founded on what the people still alive can do now for the future, not what we can run after in the past.
Patay na nga si Cory, ganyan din naman ginawa nila kay Marcos eh, you get what you give! For me I don’t even feel any sense of patriotism during her term, she is a weak leader too. It’s better during marcos time and I prefer living in martial law than today. Filipino is one of the greatest race in Asia then.
Filipinos are not a race.
I’m not too happy about Marcos’ term either. Many say that’s where things started going down… and thing are still going down from there.
And yes, Filipino is not a race.
Here are truths for the yellow trolls to digest about Cory and Ninoy. This is sourced from the enemy of the state website of Jose Maria Sison.
http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=5114
http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=3225
This is for the benefit of the author of this essay:
If you are not old enough to remember Corazon Aquino, do not believe much of what you read about her. If you want an honest opinion of the Lady, try to find someone who knew her personally. You might be able gain insight into her life by knowing where she lived, went to school, who she married and all of the things that are publicly available from official records(like every one else) BUT if you want a REAL honest opinion of who she really was and what she was really like, someone who knew her personally is best. Do it quickly though as most of those people are very old now.
I just saw the page. Wasn’t expecting to read that and funny thing is… my faith was somehow restored. Yey! 🙂
Who got rich from EDSA? Who profited from it?
Not the Filipino people…
Oligarchy is now our form of government.Pork Barrels are the sources of personal funds of politicians.
Family dynasties are prevalent. We got, what we deserve…
Cory, the mistake
Noynoy, the biggest mistake
I find the use of words that I have to look up in the dictionary like “fatuous” offensive.
For someone who doesn’t remember, you sure had a lot to say 😉
Cory Aquino, the patron “saint” of Pinoy democrazy in the Marxist pseudo-Catholic Church.
I enjoyed this post very much! I think you hit hit the nail on the head! What has really changed since then? Nothing and the situation of the country has only worsened. It’s always easy for people (i.e. the Aquinos) to criticise those who came before them but if they can’t do any better in their actions then they are worse than those who were there before them…the telenovela continues!
Cory Aquino may have faults but one thing that makes her different is she did not lust for power. She could have extended her revolutionary form of government with dictatorial powers for much longer than 1987 and in 1991 she could have ran for president and easily won but did not.
You are blinded by them. If you think she didn’t lust for power or wealth then you’re dead wrong. She altered the constitution to support her Oligarchy family, particularly the Agrarian Reform also, Article 1, Section 1 of the constitution that made us lose our grip to our lands to Foreign lands. She’s also the one who institutionalize corruption by opening the flood gate that lead to the PDAF because she knows she can’t control the Congress if she didn’t bribe them. Also, she didn’t win the 1986 Snap Election for your information. She just Hijacked a Failed Coup. She also gave our (government owned) infrastructures and institute to her Kamaganak Inc. so that they would swear loyalty to their Family. My advice, you need to dig deeper, blind Loyalty is not a good thing.
It’s not that she did not lust for power. Tamad lang siya. She preferred playing mahjong!
What have you done to change this country? Nada. so, you are not one talk…
Typical butthurt comment. People here do their part “educating” butthurt people like you. You are very much welcome to back read the articles. Warning, it may be butthurtful to your balat sibuyas.
“Small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss IDEAS.” -Eleanor Roosvelt
Fact is that you’re stupid and want the status quo to remain.
Deal with it, homo. 😛
Shallow mindless people are always illogical or irrational!
The country would have been at par with singapore or korea. Had it not been for the people power. Take a look at the developments during the strongmans regime. Powerplants, roads, and bridges. All the ingredients of a better economy. He and his cronies were the only ones’ that looted/plundered the country’s resources. There was descipline down to the barangay level. Fast forward to cory down to her son” aquino”, everyone who sits in a government office plunders. No concrete direct nor sustainable economic policies fir the next 20 or 30 years. Our main industry is human trafficking and filipino slavery( domestic helpers). Filipino fathers, leaving their children to work abroad. Filipino mothers, leaving their children to become domestic helpers. How did we end up to be domestic helpers? Whe claim to have the highest literacy rate in Asia. I think the Aquino family has more actors, aside from Kris. They have managed to position and brand themselves as the elixir of corruption. Fact of the matter is, they have brought and paid the culture of corruption with the elder benignos so called “assassination”. Did the strongman really assasinated the elder aquino? Or was it the brainchild plan of the cojuanco’s? The price they pay for the brand they intend to sell. Afterall ninoy was indispensable.
yeah…the more daw na ipinagbubunyi ang pangalan ni cory aquino ng mga tao at isinisigaw the more daw na nahihirapan yan sa impiyerno.. kaya sigaw pa more ang pangalang CORY AQUINO…masyadong makasalan yan at daming pinapatay na tao…kaya siguradong nagdudusa ang kaluluwa niyan sa impiyerno…credit grabber at mapanira.. lahat ay gustong kunin ng di nila pag aari..
Remember Marcos.
Discipline and progress under Marcos and Martial law were great.
This is the funniest article I’ve ever read since I joined this blog. So funny I was not able continue writing and making an opinion about it. I have a lot to say but right now I cannot stop laughing.