==> DESTINY'S CHILD and the yellow son rises

Nearly thirty seven years ago today, Benigno Servillano "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. wrote an impassioned letter to his then thirteen year old son Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III...


August 25, 1973
Fort Bonifacio
11:30pm

Mr. Benigno S.. Aquino III
P E R S O N A L

My dearest Son:

One of these days , when you have completed your studies I am sure you will have the opportunity to visit many countries. And in your travels you will witness a bullfight. In Spanish bullfighting as you know, a man - the matador - is pitted against an angry bull. The man goads the bull to extreme anger and madness. Then a moment comes when the bull, maddened, bleeding and covered with darts, feeling his last moment has come, stops rushing about and grimly turns his face on the man with the scarlet “muleta” and sword. The Spaniards call this “the moment of truth..” This is the climax of the bullfight.

This afternoon, I have arrived at my own moment of truth. After a lengthy conference with my lawyers, Senators Jovito R. Salonga and Lorenzo M. Tanada I made a very crucial and vital decision that will surely affect all our lives: mommie’s, your sisters’, yours and all our loved ones as well as mine.

I have decided not to participate in the proceedings of the Military Commission assigned to try the charges filed against me by the army prosecution staff. As you know, I’ve been charged with illegal possession of firearms, violation of RA 1700 otherwise known as the “Anti-Subversion Act” and murder.

You are still too young to grasp the full impact of my decision. Briefly: by not participating in the proceedings, I will not be represented by counsel, the prosecution will present its witnesses without any cross examinations, I will not put up any defense, I will remain passive and quiet through the entire trial and I will merely await the verdict. Inasmuch as it will be a completely one-sided affair, I suppose it is reasonable to expect the maximum penalty will be given to me… I expect to be sentenced to imprisonment the rest of my natural life, or possibly be sent to stand before a firing squad. By adopting the course of action I decided upon this afternoon, I have literally decided to walk into the very jaws of death.

You may ask: why did you do it?

Son, my decision is an act of conscience. It is an act of protest against the structures of injustice that have been imposed upon our hapless countrymen. Futile and puny, as it will surely appear to many, it is my last act of defiance against tyranny and dictatorship.

You are my only son. You carry my name and the name of my father. I have no material wealth to leave you. I never had time to make money while I was in the hire of our people. For this I am very sorry. I had hopes of building a little nest egg for you. I bought a ranch in Masbate in the hope that after ten or fifteen years, the coconut trees I planted there would be yielding enough to assure you a modest but comfortable existence. Unfortunately, I had to sell all our properties as I fought battle after political battle as a beleaguered member of the opposition… And after the last battle, I had more obligations than assets.

The only valuable asset I can bequeath to you now is the name you carry. I have tried my best during my years of public service to keep that name untarnished and respected, unmarked by sorry compromises for expediency. I now pass it on to you, as good, I pray, as when my father, your grandfather passed it on to me.

I prepared a statement which I intend to read before the military commission on Monday at the opening of my trial. I hope the commission members will be understanding and kind enough to allow me to read my statement into the record. This may well be my first and only participation in the entire proceedings. In this statement, I said: Some people suggested that I beg for mercy from the present powers that be. Son, this I cannot do in conscience. I would rather die on my feet with honor, than live on bended knees in shame.

Your great grandfather, Gen. Servilliano Aquino was twice condemned to death by both the Spaniards and the American colonizers. Fortunately, he survived both by a twist of fate. Your grandfather, my father was also imprisoned by the Americans because he loved his people more than the Americans who colonized us. He was finally vindicated. Our ancestors have shared the pains, the sorrows and the anguish of Mother Filipinas when she was in bondage. It is a rare privilege for me to join the Motherland in the dark dungeon where she was led back by one of her own sons whom she lavished with love and glory.

I ended my statement thus: I have chosen to follow my conscience and accept the tyrant’s revenge.

It takes little effort to stop a tyrant. I have no doubt in the ultimate victory of right over wrong, of evil over good, in the awakening of the Filipino. Forgive me for passing unto your young shoulders the great responsibility for our family. I trust you will love your mother and your sisters and lavish them with the care and protection I would have given them.

I was barely fifteen years old when my father died. His death was my most traumatic experience. I loved and hero-worshipped him so much, I wanted to join him in his grave when he passed away. But as in all sorrows, eventually they are washed away by the rains of time..

In the coming years, I hope you will study very hard so that you will have a solid foundation on which to build your future. I may no longer be around to give you my fatherly advice. I have asked many of your uncles to help you along should the need arise and I pray you will have the humility to drink from their fountain of experiences.

Look after your two younger sisters with understanding and affection. Viel and Krissy will need your umbrella of protection for a long time. Krissy is still very young and fate has been most unkind to both of us. Our parting came too soon. Please make up for me. Take care of her as I would have taken care of her with patience and warm affection.

Finally, stand by your mother as she stood beside me through the buffeting winds of crisis and uncertainties firm and resolute and uncowed. I pray to God, you inherit her indomitable spirit and her rare brand of silent courage. I had hopes of introducing you to my friends, showing you the world and guide you through the maze of survival. I am afraid, you will now have to go it alone without your guide.

The only advice I can give you: Live with honor and follow your conscience. There is no greater nation on earth than our Motherland. No greater people than our own. Serve them with all your heart, with all your might and with all your strength.

Son, the ball is now in your hands.

Lovingly,
Dad

i have reprinted Ninoy's letter to Noynoy to give a better insight of the man that will be sworn into the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines today...
...the kind of burden he has carried on his shoulders as far back as a young man of
thirteen
...the kind of family he grew up in
...the kind of parents that nurtured him.


this time last year, when traditional politicians were already eyeing the presidency, when they were jockeying for positions, wasting their ill-gotten resources with their never-ending infomercials, poor Juan de la Cruz was praying for divine intervention. in our desperation, some of us were prepared to settle for the lesser evil, whom in all practical purposes is still evil. Mar was ok but he couldnt reach the masses no matter how hard he tried. the others...some of them are tainted to begin with...some, to put it bluntly hasnt a snowball's chance in h*ll to win. then came August 1, 2009, Cory died and our nation's date with destiny began...again. our eyes are now focused on one man, Benigno Simeon AquinoIII. whether he liked it or not, whether he deserved it or not, he now has to take the centerstage, the torch that his parents held are now passed on to him.


i distinctly remember his and his sister's reaction when first asked if he intends to seek a higher office the following year. his sisters said "NO, ayaw ni mom ng ganyan" and Noy's reponse was "NO, my mom said i should finish my term until 2013". little did this family know, that saying NO to the most coveted office in the land makes Noy even more attractive as a candidate in the eyes of a desperate nation, mas gusto natin yung hindi atat na atat sa posisyon, hindi ba? during Cory's wake, a reporter asked Mar Roxas and Frank Drilon and the other LP stalwarts if the party will consider Noy as VP for the 2010 polls and they replied "this is not the time to discuss that". immediately after the funeral, the same people were asked the very same question and this time their reply was "we'll talk to Noy if he is open to the idea of being the VP of Mar". Vice President? Wellll, the Yellow Army is not after the posistion of VP for Ninoy and Cory's son. the more the Aquino sisters seem hellbent on Noy not running for any public office in 2009, the louder the clamor for him to run became. at one point they asked their brother why he's even considering it, he replied, "for God, for Dad and Mom". after much soul searching...he made a decision. after billions of pesos spent to discredit him, after the dirt that was thrown at him, after the cloud of doubt planted on the electorate to rethink their choice, the filipino people have spoken. they gave the son of Ninoy and Cory a landslide victory and that's what i mean when i say...destiny taking over a nation's history.


...Mr. President, the ball is now in your hands...

==> my not too GREAT EXPECTATIONS

as i have entitled this piece, i dont have great expectations of the soon-to-be inaugurated Philippine president and his administration, even if it is a fact that I VOTED FOR HIM. once upon a time, i considered myself an idealist, now im afraid im more of a pragmatist. actually, when writing about Philippine politics, im more cynical than anything else. there may still be some remnants of that idealism in me but i have to admit, it is slowly disappearing into thin air. years of disappointment with our so-called leaders slowly eroded that idealism and the last straw for me is the last administration's 9 years in power and it's efforts in making itself synonymous to impunity. to think that the word IMPUNITY was not even in my vocabulary until a certain Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came into power...salamat ha, nadagdagan ang alam kong english word ...pero sana di na lang :(

my expections are simple and it is coupled with a bit of advice, or plea to the new president, like let's say...

...if one day, you yourself in a moment of insanity, is tempted to do an unlawful act like lets say, rig an election, pleeeease, dont get caught. stop yourself with all your might from calling a comelec official named, let's say, Hello Garci. if you are caught, i beg you, dont address the public in nationwide television and say a tearful but badly acted..."I AM SORRY", without even explaining what youre sorry for and even defending your actions...Te, mag workshop ka muna, medyo masama pa ang acting! huhu..sniff,sniff, wala tuloy na ni wa la... (>_<)

...if one day one of your close relatives is identified as the owner of bank accounts whose balance total in the hundreds of millions and worse using an alias like, let's say, Mr Jose Pidal, pleeeease, dont protect that relative by saying the real Mr Pidal is his brother whose name is, let's say, Iggy Arroyo even if Iggy could not even sign the same way the real account owner, his brother can...kasi naman Iggy, dapat nagpraktis ka pa ng signature ni Mr Pidal bago ka sumalang sa congressional investigation, ayan tuloy, wala ding na ni wa la...(^><^)

...if one day, a close ally whom you gifted with a government position, let's say as a cabinet undersecretary of the Dept of Agriculture and whose name is, lets say, Jocjoc Bolante, was found to have funded a project using 700+ million of government funds to buy fertilizers and pesticides and distributing them to your allies in the House of Representathieves, whose districts does not even have agricultural land...pleeeease, dont try and coverup for him and send him abroad or worse say that you hardly know the man... bakit ang sweet nyo dati ni FG ha JokeJoke, eh di naman pala kayo close? ang sakit naman nun, hurt ka?...((*#*))

...if one day, you are invited to play golf in their country by a large foreign corporation, let's say named, ZTE, who wants to clinch a multi-billion peso government contract, pleeeease, try and decline that invitation or if you cant help yourself and you really want to go, ask the PSG to check the area for photogs and under no circumstances should you be photographed...Bakit kasi maggo golf lang, sa Shenzen pa, bakit di na lang sa WackWack, e di sana treat pa kayo ni Abalos ng BURJER doon, guaranteed pa naman ang sarap nun!...{(*~*)}

...if one day, photos of your golfing escapade abroad surfaces and witnesses are called in the senate, let's say one of them goes by the name of, Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada, pleeeease, dont send him abroad and dont kidnap the poor guy upon arrival at the airport when he comes back. also remind the people who fetched him not to drive him literally in circles outside of metro manila to scare him off so that he will toe the line. you might end up having somebody too scared, he'll just cry all over the senate nearly wetting his pants... si Neri oks na oks kasabwat, kahit kuryentehen mo pa sya literally, ang isasagot lang sa senate inquiry na magiimbestiga sa kanya, EXECUTIVE PRIVILEDGE! eh si Lozada, ang daling magpanic, di lang naihatid agad sa bahay nila nagiiyak na agad sa media at kumanta na ng long playing! ang saya tuloy sa senate :):):)

what about the time, at the height of the SARS pandemic, when a certain Mrs President upon arrival from a "working" visit abroad got herself confined in Asian Hospital supposedly for self-quarantine(wow very responsible), but was in reality admitted to the hospital for a reason that is not exactly noble but just pure and simple vanity like lets say...a leaking breast implant! hahaha, nagdeny pa nung una, aaminin din naman pala na nagpalagay ng implant ang lola mo, nagpabuking pa kasi, nalaman tuloy namin ang di naman namin gustong malaman, no! siguro mrs president, dahil noong 1970's pa pala nung ginawa ang procedure na yan, dapat pina pacheck din yan na parang kotse, kailangan ang tune-up paminsan minsan ((*.~))

i could go on and on about these issues, there's certainly no shortage of scandals involving this administration, BUT, id better stop there because im afraid i'll give myself a headache if i continue further. in a nutshell Mr PNOY(President Noy), what im saying is...DONT GET CAUGHT WITH YOUR HAND INSIDE THE COOKIE JAR, OR, IN FLAGRANTE DELICTO, EVER! and IF YOU'RE STUPID ENOUGH TO GET YOURSELF CAUGHT IN A TIGHT SPOT, CREDIT THE FILIPINO PEOPLE WITH A LITTLE BIT OF COMMON SENSE, just a little bit, AND DONT INSULT OUR INTELLIGENCE AND SAY, YOU'RE JUST TRANSFERRING THE COOKIES IN ANOTHER JAR. NAMAN! ...ninanakawan ka na, nagpapahuli pa, niloloko ka pa na akala mo aanga-anga ka...OK KA LANG?

one day, maybe soon, the purists among us may disagree with PNOY because he would need to make very tough decisions. Disappointment will be a word we may hear often as we will be made to swallow some bitter pills, concessions will be arrived at and people with dubious or questionable characters may be accommodated by the new goverment, all in an effort to move the country forward. let us not squander yet again our chance to right the wrong, to correct our mistakes, to fix what's broken, and to rise where we have fallen by closing our minds and make the mistake of not giving the man now at the helm of our government...the benefit of a doubt. People, pleeeease, lets' give him a chance...

==> THE YELLOW ARMY

…is their existence a mere perception...imagination...illusion...wishful thinking…do they come together as a group only when our leaders has become so thick-faced, bold-faced or steel-faced that they have become so brazen, fearless and undaunted in doing their evil deeds? our so-called leaders who insult our intelligence and even our common sense when they "try" to make us believe that they did an excellent job in the last 9 years and so, in trampling over our rights and making a mockery of our laws and social institutions, they are doing all of us a favor, therefore, we should be grateful.
do we as a nation resurrect this “mythical” group everytime our country reaches a critical point in our history? To set the record straight…

1. The Yellow Army is real. It is strong, robust and alive.

2. Its members are Filipinos willing to give their time, strength and resources for a common goal.

3. they still BELIEVE that all is not lost and our dream of becoming a great nation will one day be realized.

4. They remain in most cases, principled, committed, and focused to do whatever they can to take this country in the direction where their dreams could be realized.

5. They were willing to put their own lives on hold, leaving their jobs and their profession to work tirelessly more often than not working under the radar and for free.

6. They do not expect to be rewarded in their efforts except perhaps, to the people whom they have helped install in powerful posts, to give this country a decent and honest government.

7. They are those who in their own way try and educate the ignorant, the uninformed, and the misinformed about national issues and try to engage the uninterested, the apathetic and the cynical members of our society to be a part of history and learn its lessons.

8. Finally, they would do everything in their power to promote in a big way or in a small way, quietly or loudly, openly or discreetly what they believe in and support the ideals of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, that…
The Filipino is worth DYING FOR and
The Filipino is worth LIVING FOR.



The Yellow Army was born when Ninoy was killed in 1983. Their coming together are always spontaneous and never planned and always, triggered by a sense of outrage. As far as I know, it was called into action 3 times in our nation’s history. The 1st was in February1986 during the 1st People Power Revolution to oust Marcos the Dictator. The 2nd was January2001 during the impeachment and the eventual ouster of Erap the Plunderer. Since then, they have fallen into a deep slumber and was only jolted from that state with the death of Cory last year. Faced with the kind of leaders they now have, they realized what they had just lost. A woman who did not enrich herself in power. A woman who was not intoxicated by that power and was ready to relinguish it to her successor. A woman who led a simple life and continued to live until the day of her death in the modest bungalow that she shared with her husband. And a woman who gave up her quiet and comfortable life to lead us but whom we abandoned after putting her in power. sadly, we left her at the mercy of wolves disguised as political leaders, men of the armed forces who suffers from messianic complex(or is there also a political agenda?), government bureaucrats and the like. We expected her to solve our problems while she herself was trying to survive threats from all sides. In short, we did not do our part and she did hers. Maybe in our guilt, or remorse, The Yellow Army was once again called into action for the 3rd time. They launched a People’s Campaign to ensure the victory of Ninoy and Cory’s only son in the 2010 presidential polls.

To the hundreds of thousands of Yellow Volunteers of the Yellow Army, here and abroad, victory is indeed sweet BUT the dream for a better nation still remain. They vow not to abandon the current bearer of the torch, to remain vigilant and help him in nation building. Hopefully, we can count on that promise. We MUST keep the torch lit and the faith alive.

The Yellow Army is no myth. I know this for a fact because I consider myself one of them or at least, i symphatize with their cause. i don’t bear nor carry an identication card that identifies me as a member. It is enough that we share a common dream. im concerned and i care where this country is headed. i always vote for public servants according to my conscience and it is always an informed choice. My loyalty is not to the Aquino Family but to the ideals their parents espoused and tried to uphold. The Yellow Army will always be grateful to Ninoy and Cory Aquino for their service to the Filipino. Until a better leader rises from the ranks, it is not a bad thing to try and emulate them, not at all…

==> ENOUGH! ...for now...

Much has been said, written and discussed, about the incoming Philippine president. He has been flooded by unsolicited advices, has been dismissed as a political lightweight, his legislative record was branded as “unremarkable” and even his sanity was questioned. He has been ordered, dared and challenged, to perform miracles that would solve the problems that has been ailing this country for decades before he could even raise his hand in an inauguration. Worse, he has been the subject of nitpicking like we’ve never seen before in this country coming from the supposedly unbiased and objective media practitioners, opinion writers and columnists, corrupt and thick-faced traditional politicians, some hollier-than-thou church leaders, cyberbullies, paid hacks and the outgoing administration’s apologists. They pick on his clothes, his hair, his sister, his posture, etc,etc,etc. They demonize him by constantly asking and nagging about his smoking habit to a point of practically ordering the incoming Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to stop, as in right now by every pinoy-know-it-all/smarty pants diguising as well-meaning concerned citizen. i would bet my entire savings that among these demanding bunch of characters, the noisiest did not even vote for him. the nerve!

What has the poor guy done to deserve all this unwarranted attention on the most trivial of matters? Oh, I know, he gave up whatever is left of his quiet and private life, gave in to our clamour for him to carry the torch left by his parents and ran and eventually won the thankless job of being the Philippine president.

What the h*ll is wrong with you people, give the guy some space! Legitimate issues and concerns specially those that involve the state would be dealt with in due time. In the meantime let us not make his life miserable by continously harrassing the poor guy with “non-issues”. Nuff said.