Mark Cojuangco on Danding, Ninoy, Kris, Noynoy, GMA, Erap, Marcos, and why he wants to visit Cory

BEIJING, China — This exclusive interview with 52-year-old Pangasinan Congressman Mark Cojuangco was undertaken in four parts by this writer, at the Red resto of Shangri-La Makati, on a Philippine Airlines flight to Beijing and then also on the flight coming back to Manila, and at a dinner in a Chinese resto in Beijing. (Thanks to Senator Loren Legarda for making this possible.)  

Though sometimes “off the record” because he doesn’t want “to open old wounds,” Rep. Cojuangco shared many interesting items and anecdotes in our freewheeling, no-holds-barred exchange. An ardent advocate of the pragmatic proposal to operate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant to support the Philippine economy and vice chairman of the influential Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, Mark is the eldest son of San Miguel Corporation big boss and Nationalist People’s Coalition founder Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Jr. He has no plans to run for public office next year and will vacate his congressional seat in favor of his wife Kimi in 2010. Here are excerpts from our interview:

Philippine STAR: Since we’re marking Mother’s Day this month, how would you describe your mother, Gretchen Cojuangco?

CONG. MARK COJUANGCO: She’s a great mother. Our mom is the perfect wife to our dad. Asawa niya ang buhay niya. When our father was just rising in politics, nag-aabogado siya (she was lawyering) for others who couldn’t get to our father. She would say: “Darling, this certain person needs help.”

How would you describe your father Danding?

Dad is not plastic when helping other people, lubus-lubusan (all-out) when he helps others.

What are the secrets to your father’s success as a billionaire business leader and political kingpin?

His discipline. Dad wakes up at 5 a.m. every morning, no matter what time he sleeps the night before — whether at midnight or 2 a.m. His own father died early when he was only 16, and he had to become padre de familia. He’s the eldest of six siblings. The second reason I think is his vision. Third is his hard work, sipag talaga. Fourth, he empathizes with others; he knows how to put himself in the shoes of other people. In the 1960s in our home in Quezon City, every morning people would line up to see him for help.

What is your dad’s advice to you in your political career?

Dad said I shouldn’t keep complaining about the various socio-economic problems of the Philippines, that I should try to change things instead of complaining. One of the reforms I authored and I’m championing is House Bill 04631 for the immediate re-commissioning and commercial operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. It is sad that not many people in our society appreciate that nuclear power is the most recognized non-carbon-emitting and electricity-generating technology in the world today. Nuclear power is clean, safe and cost-efficient. Thirty economically advanced countries on earth (including the US) now run a total of 430-plus nuclear power plants today. South Korea has 20 nuclear plants, they have seven coming on line and 11 more on order. It is tragic that our politicians and even our media focus always on scandals, not on economic issues like bigas and galungong gut issues.

You’re named after your dad’s best friend, the late President Marcos. How did their friendship start?

Dad first met Marcos at Malacañang Palace, then under President Diosdado Macapagal in the early 1960s. Our father was looking for outstanding political leaders to help the Philippines, and they just hit it off very well. Dad was impressed with the vision and talents of Marcos. Coincidentally, Marcos was then also looking for a local leader in Tarlac province.

Were you close to President Marcos, your ninong?

The only time I was able to see President Marcos a lot was during our exile in Hawaii after EDSA 1986. A few years before that, my then-fiancée Kimi and I went to the Palace to invite President Marcos to be our wedding godfather. Our wedding godparents then were only Marcos, then-First Lady Imelda Marcos and then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile.

What happened to you and your family during EDSA1986 and after?

That’s too long and too complicated (laughs). Perhaps I’ll just write a book, but only when all the principals are dead.

How would you assess the presidency of your dad’s first-cousin and your godfather’s political nemesis Cory Cojuangco Aquino?

I feel that President Tita Cory probably had good intentions, but her implementations were flawed. Maybe it was due to a lot of anger. I think it was a mistake to lump all the things done by her predecessor together as all wrong. It would have been better if she had assessed and judged her predecessor’s policies on a case-by-case basis based on merit, like the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). She should have also been more discerning of people who are really bad and those who are not.

Perhaps part of her anger is also due to the injustice and the perceived unsolved case of the 1983 assassination of her husband Senator Ninoy Aquino?

Yes, we couldn’t blame my auntie for her anger, because her husband had died.

Is it true you want to visit your aunt President Cory Aquino? Why?

Yes, it’s true I requested to visit Tita Cory for an appointment two weeks before this Beijing trip. Why? To explain to her my advocacy on reopening the BNPP and why it is very important to the economic survival and progress of our oil import-dependent Philippine economy. I had also previously asked the help of my cousin Senator Noynoy Aquino for an appointment in 2008. In my latest request, the response I got was that she was sick and couldn’t see me. But the other day, the Philippine STAR reported she had publicly supporting Jun Lozada. It’s unfortunate my aunt Cory has energy for Jun Lozada but can’t give me even 30 minutes.

Are you expecting Tita Cory to endorse the BNCC reopening?

No, she does not have to even endorse it. I just hope that she has an open mind towards the BNPP.

Perhaps bad memories between the two branches of the Cojuangco clan are still there?

I sincerely believe this: let’s leave politics of the past behind, that’s the 1980s. More than 25 years have passed in history.

Is your dad already reconciled with your aunt Cory?

Let’s just say they’re not buddy-buddies. I think there’s mutual respect. We don’t go out of our way to harm each other.

Have you ever met President Cory?

I met President Tita Cory for the first time in Malacañang Palace at one of the first receptions at the start of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term, when Cory and GMA were still friends.

What did you tell her and what was her reaction?

I told President Cory: “I don’t know if you know me, I’m your nephew Mark.” She replied: “Of course I know you.”

What are your impressions of your late uncle Ninoy Aquino?

I didn’t get to know him well, but I used to see him a lot in our house.

In your house? I thought your family was estranged from the Cory side of your Cojuangco clan due to your Marcos ties?

All I can say is, before all the politics screwed up everything, barkada at kapitbahay sa Roberts Street in Pasay City sila — my dad and mom, Ninoy and Cory.

Barkada as in good friends?

Every afternoon before, they used to have merienda together at the former Bulakena Restaurant in (Roxas) Boulevard. They would order halo-halo and chat as friends.

How did you know these things when you were still a kid?

We have old pictures of them together. Mom used to tell me: “That’s your Tita Cory and that’s Ninoy.”

When did the conflict start?

It was 1961, when I was only four years old. It was the time when politics screwed up the relationship.

Are all the political and other conflicts gone in your generation?

Hopefully wala ng away, but you cannot also disregard your roots…

How do you view your second cousin Noynoy?

I respect Noynoy. We just have some differences of opinions and priorities. Noynoy and I, we talk, we’re not enemies, but we’re also not close friends.

What do you think of your famous cousin Kris?

I haven’t really met her, perhaps only once or twice socially. Kris has a relationship with us through her San Miguel commercials. Also, she and Noynoy had in the past defended my father, and I really appreciate that. 

What is your reaction to news that Kris announced her intention to someday run for either vice president or president?

I wish Kris the best in all her endeavors.

Why has the Cojuangco clan produced so many leaders in different fields — from your dad in San Miguel, your first-cousin Defense Secretary Gilbert Cojuangco Teodoro, your aunt President Cory and her kids Noynoy and Kris to Tony Boy Cojuangco whose family used to control PLDT?

Siguro we have inherited some traits from our forebears. Maybe we are proud of our family name and the honor of our ancestors so we have the wish to sincerely excel by doing good.

What is your opinion about former President Fidel Ramos, who won over your father in the 1992 election?

When Ramos came to power, he was railing against the so-rent-seekers. Now I ask you, who is the leader responsible for the take-or-pay contracts and IPPs disadvantageous to the country? Those take-or-pay contracts and IPPs are the biggest case of rent-seeking in Philippine history. The Philippines has already spent $2.118 billion already in principal and interests for the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, or $699 million in interest alone… If we had the BNPP running, there wouldn’t have been the electric power crises under Presidents Cory and Ramos, there would have been no reason for the Ramos-era IPPs or the take-or-pay contracts which everybody hates.

Is there a chance that our Congress will pass your bill to reopen and operate the BNPP?

I would really want to see this bill pass before the next Congress, I hope our leaders will not succumb to pressure. Hopefully August, but the sooner the better because there are manifestations of the coming electric power crisis in the Philippines.

If that is true, when do the experts predict a power crisis for our society and how much?

The coming shortage would be 3,000 megawatts in Luzon by 2012, 2013 and 2014. During the power crises of the Cory and Ramos administrations, our power shortage was only 600 megawatts; that’s how serious our future problems are if we do not prepare now.

How do you assess President GMA as a leader?

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s focus on infrastructure is right. Her administration is doing it right, but I just wish it were more focused. I feel that with the billions of pesos being spent yearly by the DPWH budget, it’s tragic only a small percentage goes to buying right-of-way, that means we’re just mostly repairing and not really building that many new roads… It’s sad we as a society have an aversion to paying taxes, because of perceptions that infrastructure is not being built well. If the public knew where taxpayers’ money was going, they would pay more taxes.

Is President GMA a success as a leader and, if not, why?

I don’t think she defaulted on infrastructure development, which I believe is the most important task of any president. We should move away from mendicancy, tama siya (she’s correct). We should have fewer infrastructure projects but more meaningful ones, but maybe she wanted to spread development to more people. Maybe if GMA were not so politically burdened, she could have done much more for the Philippines in terms of progress and to unite Filipinos to achieve bigger goals. But I think nobody can blame GMA for being lazy, she’s very hardworking.

What is your impression of ex-President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, your dad’s former running mate in 1992?

Ang bait niya (He’s so nice). He’s got a lot of people skills. Madali siyang makisama (he easily gets along with others). He’s a very kind person. During the wake of my grandmother last December, I met him.

Do you think Erap will really run again as President next year? Can you or your dad persuade him not to run anymore to preserve social peace?

Erap still has a loyal constituency. Hopefully, he’ll be an elder statesman. It’s hard for me to say that he shouldn’t run again. I believe he has the right to do whatever he wants.

Who is your bet for president in 2010?

Our Nationalist People’s Coalition party has only two candidates for president — Senator Loren Legarda or Senator Chiz Escudero. They’re both hardworking, in touch with the people, and they both have the Filipino national interests at heart.

Any advice for Loren and Chiz on how to win the NPC party nomination?

Just keep working hard, keep showing the right stuff.

What is your impression of the late Fernando Poe, Jr., your dad’s San Miguel beer endorser and who campaigned for his 1992 election?

Totoong tao si FPJ (He’s a truly humane person). He helped my father in 1992 for the presidential campaign. Napakabait siya (He’s such a nice guy). It’s so easy to feel at home with him. Even in public or at social gatherings, he would call me; he was very approachable.

What about your impressions of Sharon Cuneta Pangilinan, who used to be your younger brother Charlie’s girlfriend?

That’s showbiz na (laughs). I’m grateful Sharon helped our dad in 1992, that she had confidence in him despite the many unfair accusations by certain critics, those didn’t affect her judgment of our dad. Sharon still calls me “Manong Mark” when we meet.

Have you ever been in business like your dad?

I used to be in business, making automotive parts for the US and Europe markets, before China got into the market. China started giving the US six months’ credit; I could fight them on price, but not on the credit. I sold my company Mondera Wheel five years ago to ROH of Australia. I used to champion manufacturing, but how can we compete with other countries if our electric power costs are so high? I used to have sophisticated machinery, and it suffered due to our fluctuating electric power supply. How can we compete? There should be urgent reforms.

What is the solution?

If it were up to me, I’d get bulldozers to build more new roads, I would expropriate lands and give private landowners just fair compensation, but I’d build more new and efficient infrastructure. We should encourage the concept that private interest should be subservient to public interest… But it is sad that nowadays, people seem to prefer scandals to crucial socio-economic issues. People prefer to attend Joc Joc Bolante hearings in Congress rather than attend my hearings on the BNPP. There is no sense of proportion in our country for what is truly important, which is socio-economic issues, rice and galunggong issues!  

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