Cory’s legacy of leadership

The most remarkable about the public outpouring of grief and the long lines of mourners after the passing away of Cory Aquino was that it all happened 17 years after she stepped down from the presidency of the Philippines. From 1992 to 2009 she had neither a position nor even any title.

But for 17 years after her presidency, Cory was not just a former President. She was the moral conscience of the Filipino people. She was the only person who could call the people to the streets to express public outrage against the machinations and corruption of even the highest and most powerful politicians.

Fidel Ramos won as the handpicked candidate of Cory Aquino in the 1992 elections. But when talks began to circulate that there were moves to amend the Constitution to allow Ramos to run for a second term, it was Cory and her long time ally Cardinal Sin who called for an anti-Charter change rally. And hundreds of thousands responded by marching to Luneta. That ended any attempt to amend the constitutional limit of a single presidential term.

Then came the scandal-ridden Joseph Estrada presidency.  Again Cory led a series of demonstrations urging the president to resign. After the crucial vote in the Senate where the pro Estrada forces believed they had won, people were ready for a final confrontation. I remember my son sending a text message which said:  â€œCory is going to the EDSA shrine to talk and she is going to be in yellow. Let’s go.”

The “woman in yellow” was the single person who was able to unify all the forces, including the military, who brought about the resignation of Erap Estrada.

In 1992 and at the end of the Ramos and Estrada presidencies, there were always calls for her to step back into power.  But each time she refused.

The Gloria Macapagal Arroyo years was a period of struggle and crusading for Cory. But the emotional catharsis that gripped the nation upon her death eventually led to the election of her son Noynoy that has brought about a second Renaissance in Philippine society.

Corazon Aquino then was more than just a president but her people’s symbol for courageous convictions and morality even amidst a corrupt government. She was the leader the Filipino people turned to every time there was a crisis.

She was said to have been an accidental leader. But the writer Warren Benis writes: “ More leaders have been made by accident , circumstances, sheer grit or will than have been made by all the leadership courses together....Developing character and vision is the way leaders invent themselves.”Corazon Aquino showed she had courage when she dared lead the fight against the martial law forces of the Marcos dictatorship. But when she transformed her mission from that of avenging her husband’s death to a crusade for the restoration of democracy and human rights to this country, she became the leader of her people and the embodiment of their vision of a nation that they and their children could be proud of.

But leadership is not just character and personality. There is such a thing as leadership moments which happen when a leader’s credibility and reputation is on the line. When the fate and fortune of others depend on what the leader will do. These leadership moments define the leader when a decision is made to serve the common good and not personal ambitions.

Throughout her life, there have been many such leadership moments for Corazon Aquino. There was her decision to run for president under the Marcos martial law regime. Then she asked the people to guard the ballot boxes with their lives, not for the sake of her victory but as part of the struggle to restore freedom and democracy to the Philippines.

Then after she became president, she convened a constitution and allowed a Congress to be elected when she could have easily ruled by decree for a longer period of time.

During her presidency there were seven serious coup attempts. Perhaps her most courageous moment came during a coup attempt by forces led by Gringo Honasan where Malacañang became a target. She was advised to move to an army camp for her personal safety. She refused and said she would not abandon the symbol of her presidency. It was the right decision.

But her defining moment was when she declined every attempt to make her run for a second term in spite of overwhelming evidence that she could win the presidency. She said then: “This is the glory of democracy, that its most solemn moment should be the peaceful transfer of power.”One of the biggest mistakes is to think that leaders are those who occupy top positions. But people who rise to the top may have done so because of political acumen or the use of violent or illegal means or through their celebrity status.

One of the greatest gifts that Corazon Aquino left us is a legacy of leadership that symbolizes and dares to fight what is truly the best in the Filipino people. Today we thank her for her ultimate gift to us — a life dedicated to her people.

It may seem prophetic, but in her last SONA she said: “But while my power as president ends in 1992, my responsibility as a Filipino for the well being of my country goes beyond it to my grave.”

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