Category: ninoy

in cory’s wake

when ninoy died and his remains lay in bloodied state sa times street, pumila kami that night, my husband and i, to pay our respects, never mind that marcos might get mad or his military might be watching.   we just had to pay homage to this man who won our respect when he, alone, suffered jail for seven years and seven months rather than bow to a dictator, and when he dared come home from exile because the filipino is worth dying for.

past the gate a couple of kids handed us a black ribbon each, a small strip with aspili.   the patio too was small, the space enough only for the line of people snaking single-file around the coffin for a quick hello and goodbye, as quick as the pass-by cory’s coffin i’m now seeing on tv.   it was also very quiet.   the house was closed, there was no sign of any family or friends.   except for two or three watchful guys standing by (security siguro) we, the people, were alone with ninoy.   a starkly simple affair.

with cory, aba, sosyal!   what a case-study of a scene.    the huge venues and tv cameras, the people quietly filing by the coffin while family and friends sit around, move around, make chika nearby.   how rare, masses and elite sharing the same space happily, clear divisions and all.   the silent masa are just happy to be allowed a glimpse of cory one last time, never mind that they enter by a different gate, and are not treated like guests and offered seats.   the elite are just happy that the masses are there too, imagine if they weren’t, what a snub, how embarrassing.

interesting, too, that gma the once lucky bitch is now the the odd woman out.   indeed, she’s damned if she goes, damned if she doesn’t.   pero dapat kaya niyang magpunta.   just as dapat kaya ng mga aquino na tanggapin siya.   of course kung type niyang magdrama, she could always do the unexpected, like, line up with the people, why not, pay her respects to cory first, before facing cory’s clan.   i’m sure even kris would be lost for words  (well, at least for a while ;).

of course it would mean gma counting on the people to be too awed by her pa-humble chutzpah to do anything but welcome her among their ranks.   but what if the people remember only that cory had asked her to resign.   what if they do an edsa instead, like, you know, stop her from getting any closer to cory, kapitbisig human-shieldeffect.   lol.   that would be the end of her.   safer not to cross lines.   safer to face kris.

yellow ribbons for cory

it was ofw reyna elena‘s great idea, launched early thursday afternoon sa barrio siete of which s/he is la kapitana — the call to bloggers to “tie a yellow ribbon for cory aquino,” sending her a message of love from a grateful people.    kumbaga, yoohoo cory, you’re on our minds, you’re in our hearts…

someone may have tipped the binays off, or naunahan lang sila ni reynz, but last night, according to the news, the mayor’s people had started tying yellow ribbons around the makati medical center and along major thoroughfares, promising to do the same citywide.

the first time we tied a yellow ribbon to our car’s antenna was back in ’83, in the wake of ninoy’s assassination.   i was working for the ministry of human settlements’ sesame street project, based in the university of life (now ultra).    of course hindi pinapasok ng guards ang kotse kasi may yellow ribbon.    rather than remove it i walked in na lang.   a month later i quit.

i was defiant then, i am just so sad now.   my heart goes out to cory, and her children, who are suffering great pain in what may be cory’s final days.   and yet, true to our culture — or is it a universal thing — we are not allowed to say she’s dying, we’re not allowed to say goodbye, we’re only allowed to pray, pray for her recovery, pray for a miracle.

the idea is not to speak of death because according to the old folks to do so is to attract it or to bring it on, which is a superstitious notion really, along with crossing fingers and knocking on wood to ward off bad luck.   but again who knows , ‘no?

anyway, gil grissom’s line in csi keeps running ’round my head :   “i wouldn’tmind dying of cancer, at least i get to say goodbye.”

this is not to say that i don’t believe in miracles, but the kind of  miracle we’re praying for, which would find cory suddenly getting better, recovering, has very slim chances of happening, no matter how hard we pray.   and then, again, yeah, malay natin, baka nga magmilagro ang langit, so okay i’m leaving that door open while praying praying praying that the suffering ends, one way or another.

now if what’s keeping her here lang pala, without hope of recovery, are the prayers and the holy masses that we’ve been storming heaven with, well, then, i say it’s time to let her go.   if we really love her, we’ll let her go.   let heaven take her.

so long, cory.   love you, cory.   salamat, cory.

gossip galore [updated]

this has been going around via email,  passed on to me by peque gallaga who notes how kris aquino keeps cropping up in the history (thanks, pq ;).   small the world from rizal to ninoy to erap to gloria, and convoluted the network of romantic and racy links, how juicy!

UPDATE:  so far i have received one correction, indicated by [ALLCAPS].   see comments.

Beyond Six Degrees of Separation

A true Pinoy saint is how Rizalistas regard Dr. Jose Rizal who was the brother of Maria Rizal Mercado who was the mother of Mauricio Rizal Cruz who was the father of Ismael Arguelles Cruz who was the first husband of writer Chitang Guerrero-Nakpil who is the mother of Miss International Gemma Cruz who is the wife of Antonio Araneta who is the cousin of Judy Araneta who is the mother of Mar Roxas who is the reported boyfriend of Korina Sanchez who was once the girlfriend of Noynoy Aquino who was once the boyfriend of Bernadette Sembrano who was once romantically- linked to Vic Sotto who was once romantically- linked to Kris Aquino…

…who lived with Philip Salvador who is the brother of Alona Alegre who was the girlfriend of Romeo Vasquez who was a very special friend of Vilma Santos who was the wife of Edu Manzano who was the husband of Maricel Soriano who was the girlfriend of William Martinez who is the brother of Albert Martinez who is the husband of Liezl Sumilang who is the daughter of Romeo Vasquez who was the husband of Amalia Fuentes who is the aunt of Aga Muhlach…

…who was the boyfriend of Aiko Melendez who was the wife of Jomari Yllana who is the boyfriend of Pops Fernandez who was the wife of Martin Nievera who was the boyfriend of Jackie Lou Blanco who is the daughter of Pilita Corrales who has a son with Eddie Guttierez who is the husband of Annabelle Rama who is the mother of Ruffa Guttierez who is the half-sister of Tonton Guttierez who is the son of Liza Lorena and the half-brother of Ramoncito Guttierez who is the estranged husband of Lotlot de Leon who is the adopted daughter of Nora Aunor who was a very special friend of Joseph Estrada who is the father of Jude Estrada who is a very special friend of Dranreb Belleza who is the son of Bernard Belleza who was (NOT) the husband of Divina Valencia who was the movie partner of Jess Lapid who is the uncle of Lito Lapid who lived with Melanie Marquez who is the sister of Joey Marquez who lived with Kris Aquino…

…who reportedly almost eloped with Robin Padilla who is the cousin of Zsa Zsa Padilla who lives with Dolphy who lived with Alma Moreno who lived with Rudy Fernandez who is the husband of Lorna Tolentino who is the stepmother of Mark Anthony Fernandez who was the boyfriend of Claudine Barretto who is the sister of Marjorie Barretto who is the estranged wife of Dennis Padilla who is a close friend of Randy Santiago who is the brother of Raymart Santiago who reportedly courted Kris Aquino…

…who is the daughter of Ninoy Aquino who is the brother of Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara who was the wife of Cesar Concio who is the husband of Charo Santos who is the sister of Milette Santos who is the wife of Edgar Mortiz who was the boyfriend of Vilma Santos who is the wife of Ralph Recto who is the brother of Plinky Recto who is the sister of Ramon Recto who was once rumored to be a very close friend of Lotlot de Leon who is the adopted daughter of Christopher de Leon who is the brother of Melissa de Leon who was a very special friend of Joey Marquez who lived with Alma Moreno who is the cousin of LJ Moreno who was the girlfriend of Diether Ocampo who was once reported as the boyfriend of Andrea Bautista who is the sister of Bong Revilla…

…who was romantically linked to Gretchen Barretto who was photographed being kissed by John Estrada who was the husband of Janice de Belen who has a son with Aga Muhlach who is the husband of Charlene Gonzales who is the daughter of Bernard Bonnin who was the husband of Elvira Gonzales who is [NOT] the [LEGAL] wife of Pepito Vera-Perez who is the brother of Marichu “Manay Ichu”Vera-Perez who is the estranged wife of Manong Ernie Maceda and the sister of Gina de Venecia who is the wife of Joe de Venecia who used to preside over the Lower House of Congress which used to be presided by Ramon Mitra who was the father of Raul Mitra who is the husband of Cacai Velasquez who is the sister of Regine Velasquez who is the reported girlfriend of Ogie Alcasid who is a close friend of Janno Gibbs who is the husband of Bing Loyzaga who is the sister of Joey Loyzaga who was the boyfriend of Gretchen Baretto who lives with Tonyboy Cojuangco who is the cousin of Kris Aquino…

…who is the daughter of Cory Aquino who is the aunt of Mikee Cojuangco who is the wife of Dodot Jaworski who is the son of Robert Jaworski who is the husband of Evelyn Bautista who is the daughter of Ramon Revilla who is the father of Bong Revilla who was romantically linked to Ruffa Mae Quinto who was the girlfriend of Dingdong Avanzado who was the boyfriend of Rachel Alejandro who is the daughter of Hajji Alejandro who lived with Rio Diaz who is the sister of Gloria Diaz who was the wife of Bong Daza who is a close friend of Bong Bong Marcos who is the son of Ferdinand Marcos who was the husbandof Imelda Marcos who is the mother of Imee Marcos who lived with Tommy Manotoc who was the husband of Miss International Aurora Pijuan who is the mother of TJ Manotoc who is the half-brother of Borgy Manotoc…

…who was rumored to have been intimate with Vina Morales who was romantically-linked to Robin Padilla who is the brother of Rustom Padilla who lived with Carmina Villaruel who lives with Zoren Lagaspi who is the brother of Kier Legaspi who is the father of the eldest child of Marjorie Baretto who is the sister of Claudine Barretto who is the wife of Raymart Santiago who is the brother of Rowell Santiago who was the movie partner of Sharon Cuneta who is the niece of Helen Gamboa who is the wife of Tito Sotto who is the brother of Vic Sotto who has a son with Connie Reyes who was a close friend of Helen Vela who was the mother of Princess Punzalan who was the wife of Willie Revillame who has a daughter with Becbec Soriano who is the sister of Maricel Soriano who is the aunt of Meryll Soriano who is the estranged wife of Bernard Palanca who was the boyfriend of Rica Peralejo who was once rumored as the girlfriend of Piolo Pascual who appeared in many movies as the love interest of Judy Ann Santos who was once the movie partner of Mikey Arroyo who is the son of Mike Arroyo who is the husband of Gloria Arroyo.

Saint. Heroes. Actors. Crooks.
Small world.
From Rizal to Ninoy to Erap to Gloria.
Yes, from a saint to a hero to an actor/thug to Gloria.
Small world, indeed.
And watch for the rest of their stories.

ninoy’s killers (updated)

“I wanted to keep my silence but I was really bothered by the narrative of the soldiers. It’s just so sad that they can rewrite history.”

can’t begrudge kris and noynoy aquino the deep hurt evoked by all the talk issuing from ninoy’s (and rolando galman’s) convicted killers upon their release, to the effect that they were punished unjustly — they were at the airport not to kill ninoy but to protect him from the assassin rolando galman who was hired by boys of danding cojuangco.

to refresh my memory i googled for, and found pcij‘s file of, the sandiganbayan’s ruling on the ninoy assassination.   a quick read told me that the soldiers were convicted of the crime based on  1) the trajectory of the fatal bullet, “forward, downward and medially”  2) the testimony of eyewitness rebecca quijano aka the crying lady  3) taped recordings of footsteps going down the narrow stairway that stopped at the 11th [of 15 20] and of the gunshot that followed, and  4) voice analysis of words spoken on their way down the stairs, just before the shot: “ako na ako na op ito na ya op pusila pusila.”

Sgt. Claro M.Lat … uttered the first phrase, “Ako na ‘”,
Sgt. Arnulfo de Mesa uttered phrase, “Ako na”;
Sgt. Claro M. Lat uttered the expression “OP”
Lt. Jesus Castro uttered the phrase, “Ito na”;
CIC Mario Lazaga was the one who uttered the word, “Ya”;
Sgt. Claro M. Lat again uttered the expression again, “OP”;
Lt. Jesus Castro next uttered the word, “Pusila”; and,
CIC Mario Lazaqa uttered the second “Pusila.”

The words uttered and the persons uttering them suggest the scenario that, while Sen Aquino and, the Boarding Party were still descending the bridge stairs, the Boarding Party saw that Rolando Galman had prematurely appeared … the members of the Boarding Party consequently panicked because the sudden appearance of Rolando Galman disrupted their planned synchronized actuations. Obviously, the plan was to make Rolando Galman appear suddenly after the Senator shall have reached the van. … The point is that, at the brink of extreme urgency, the command to shoot was made.

all of which give the lie to the soldiers’ story that ninoy was killed (not on the stairs but) on the tarmac by assassin-for-hire rolando galman who allegedly appeared from nowhere and quickly shot the senator in the head before they could stop him.   besides, if what they say were true, what then was that exchange among them on the stairway, “Ako na!” “Ako na!” “Op!” “Ito na!” “Ya!” “Op!” “Pusila!” “Pusila!” all about?   and if their job was to keep ninoy alive, why then did they lay him on the tarmac instead of rushing him into the van to get medical help.   and where, how, did ninoy get that contusion on the top of his head (revealed in the autopsy) that looked like it was caused by the butt of a gun — inside the van perhaps?   one of the soldiers hit him perhaps, for good measure, to make sure he was dead?

suddenly i’m wondering if the freed soldiers are under instructions to “rewrite history,” insist that galman was the killer, who knows, perhaps to discredit danding cojuangco who just happens to be riding very high these days.   according to patricio mangubat, cojuangco is true philippine shaker:

San Miguel Corporation, led by former Marcos crony Eduardo Danding Cojuangco just entrenched themselves deeper into Lopez territory. Cojuangco is poised to take over Meralco, the Lopezes’ crown jewel. Analysts say Cojuangco may do this anytime he wants to.

… Aside from the Lopezes, the Ayalas are now being threatened by the rising influence and presence of San Miguel in other industries. San Miguel just joined the telecommunications industry with the acquisition of Liberty Telecommunications and a joint beneficial partnership with Qatar Telecomms. That move made San Miguel easily the second biggest telecommunications firm, eclipsing even Globe Telecommunications. The move was so good and so swift, it left Gerard Ablaza clueless for months

San Miguel also entered the energy sector industry, with the majority takeover of Petron. San Miguel also brought a majority interest in the power generation sector

So, you see, my friends, San Miguel is the biggest business conglomerate in this country, controlling almost all levers of economic life and enjoying the biggest and the widest economic influence not seen since the 19th century.

thing is, in a one-on-one with korina, kris said that her family will never believe that her uncle danding had anything to do with ninoy’s killing,  anong mapapala niya, hindi naman siya presidente noon.

it would seem that kris has no idea that danding had a lot to lose if ninoy’s dream of rallying the opposition to end the marcos regime had been allowed to prosper.   it would seem that kris has no sense of how powerful danding was and how close he and president marcos were, as in BFF, all the while that her dad was wasting away in jail for continuing to denounce martial law.

At the height of cronyism in the Philippines, Cojuangco controlled $1.5 billion in corporate assets, an amount estimated to equal 25% of the country’s GNP. He headed an agricultural and industrial conglomerate with interests in diverse areas as coconut, sugar, agri-business, banking, and a host of others. The *Wall Street Journal* observed that Cojuangco attempted to create “cartels in rice, sugar, flour, groceries, and soft drinks but ran out of time.” Referring to Cojuangco’s tendency to create monopolies in  the industries where he had investments, a journalist gave him the nickname Pacman, a reference to the computer game where the object is to eat up as much as you can. Cojuangco’s personal net worth was estimated at $500 million, making him among the country’s richest men. [page 217 Some Are Smarter Than Others by Ricardo Manlapat 1991]

at the time of ninoy’s homecoming, president marcos was believed to be on his deathbed after a failed kidney transplant.   imelda was all set to succeed him, with ver’s support, but not if enrile and his reformist officers could stop them, like by mounting a coup, most probably with cojuangco’s support.   ninoy came home precisely to offer the nation an alternative to ver and enrile.

my personal appreciation of danding’s great clout in the time of marcos comes from how he figured in the story of EDSA 1986.   marcos was sick and slow and ver’s orders were not being followed.   the one and only time in those four days when marcos forces scored a hit was on the early morning of day 2 sunday when the radio veritas farm in malolos bulacan was destroyed by pc troopers on orders of cojuangco.

NEW MANILA, QUEZON CITY, 10 p.m. [22 Feb.] – Summoned by General Ver, PC Col. Maximo Mejia arrived at businessman Eduardo Cojuangco’s house in Balete Drive where he also found Virgilio de Guzman, elder brother of Brig. Gen. Isidoro de Guzman, Region III Commander. Mejia was told that President Marcos had decided to neutralize the radio station transmitter in Dakila, Malolos. Cojuangco told Mejia that the attack had been cleared by Marcos to “prevent the incident created by the Enrile-Ramos defection from escalating to a bloody one. [Midday Malaya, “FM General Owns Veritas Attack Role,” 20 May ’86]

most telling of all, danding and his family flew into exile with the dictator on the 26th of february.

Ambassador Eduardo (Danding) Cojuangco and his wife, Soledad (Gretchen) were with their immediate family … They had motored [to Clark] all the way from Sison, Pangasinan, to join the president.   [page 169 Malacanang to Makiki by ARturo C, Aruiza 1991]

if flight means guilt, what was danding feeling so guilty about that he had to fly off when marcos did?   ill-gotten wealth maybe?    the ninoy assassination maybe?   the destruction of radio veritas maybe?

and then, again, maybe none of the above.    but we won’t know unless the aquinos agree to re-open the case and let the chips fall where they may, for a change.   we owe it to ninoy.   otherwise, kris should just stop with the whining on nationwide tv.

addendum:

Rebecca Quijano saw that the senator was shot by the military man who was directly behind the Senator while the Senator and he were descending the stairs. Rebecca Quijano’s testimony  in this regard is echoed by Jessie Barcelona, Ramon Balang, Olivia Antimano, and Mario Laher, whose testimonies this Court finds likewise as credible.