… Philippine history would have been very different. He was always preparing for high office – ultimately, that of the presidency. His meteoric rise from intrepid journalist, to town mayor and then governor of Tarlac Province and then to senator of the Republic was designed to lead one day to that final goal of challenging for the presidency.
He was so unlike his wife, Cory, to whom the presidency became a possibility once he was assassinated. This was also the same phenomenon to Noynoy, whose mother’s untimely death months before the presidential elections of 2010 catapulted him to a candidacy that he did not actively seek. These two accidental presidencies would not have happened, And the nation would have been led by one who was preparing for the job almost all his life.
When capable leaders steer a nation, great things could happen. Singapore and Malaysia were guided by leaders with great vision and enormous capability and preparedness. From 1966 through to 1982, Marcos piloted the nation well and forward. And Fidel Ramos, hampered by a short fixed term, solved major problems of the nation that he faced. Suharto, despite his absolute power, steered Indonesia from a greater abyss of the unknown and consolidated what is today a better nation.
Akbayan’s Emman Hizon’s tribute to Ninoy Aquino
“He was no communist or socialist. He never advocated for the overthrow of the social system. He was not ‘masa’ or ‘obrero’. He was a politician. A politician from a section of the elite class, if you may.”But when the going got tough, and the shit hit the fan, this man didn’t quiver. He stared death right in the face. He sacrificed and offered his life in the struggle to free our country from tyranny. He didn’t have to. He could have retreated to the safe comforts of his class. But he did it anyway. Now, that is character, that is fortitude. In my book, character is destiny. And destiny is history.”.