What if Ninoy and Cory Aquino did not die?
Today is a double holiday. Eid al-Adha is contemporaneous with the Ninoy Aquino “special day.” It is the death anniversary of a very brilliant, prolific and fiery speaker and astute politician who was ahead of his time. He could have been a better president than his wife and son, but some assassin’s bullets changed the direction of our political history. Until now, there has been no categorical decision identifying the mastermind of his assassination. Perhaps, he engineered his own death? Perhaps, he hired his own assassins so that the people’s sympathy would be the driving force to propel Cory’s presidency? And to complete the cycle, Cory’s death propelled Noynoy’s ascension to Malacañan. Had Noynoy died too (heaven forbid), Kris Aquino would have been president, instead of Duterte. And then Bimbee Yap, if not Joshua. Have mercy on our souls. It seems that in the Philippines, the presidency is a gift to the bereaved family.
Turning back the pages of Philippine history, 35 years ago, I can still recall when all the radio and TV announcers stopped their regular programming and gave way to the shocking news that rocked the whole nation; Ninoy had been killed in the tarmac. Cory was still in Boston together with all their children, including a very silent and withdrawn only son, Benigno S. Aquino, III and the rather hysterical youngest daughter, the colegiala, Kris. My house in Parañaque was just a short distance to the airport and so I followed the crowd and ran to the airport to be at the vortex of Philippine history. Senator Doy Laurel announced to the whole nation that his good friend and fellow anti-Marcos freedom fighter had passed away, leaving a bewildered and confused people. That death changed the course of Philippine history.
Had Ninoy remained in Boston, he would have died there of heart failure. The airport would not have been named NAIA. Cory would never have become president. Marcos would have remained in Malacañan and, perhaps, died there of lupus, and Imelda would have succeeded him. It would have been Imelda instead of Cory. What a contrast. Imelda, the provinciana daughter of the least prominent Romualdez siblings, sans wealth but with so much ambitions, not really the social and economic elite but the poor cousins of the real rich Romualdezes, then led by her uncle, Speaker Daniel Romualdez. And Cory, scion of the great Cojuangco hacienderos from Tarlac, and the famous Sumulong political clan from Rizal. It would have been Imelda as president. And then Enrile would have succeeded Imelda, instead of Fidel V. Ramos following Cory. Then, Erap would have finished Imelda’s term, and then Fernando Poe would have won, instead of GMA. And there would not have been any automatic vote-counting machines that could create magic.
Had Cory not died too, it would have been Mar Roxas or Gibo Teodoro, or even Erap part two. But destiny had other plans and the Aquinos were exceedingly favored by fate. Gibo Teodoro was definitely the better candidate. He was a much-disciplined man. His father Gilberto Teodoro Sr. was the best SSS administrator we ever had. Under Ferdinand Marcos, Teodoro never allowed Imelda and the Marcos cronies to touch the workers’ state insurance fund. The SSS was much better managed than the GSIS. Gibo was a Bar topnotcher, number one in the Bar exams. He knows the law. But his mother did not die, cousin Noynoy’s mom did, and the voters in this country use their emotions in electing the president, instead of their brains. And so, we had Mamasapano, we had DAP, we had Dengvaxia and many more, ad infinitum.
Had Ninoy opted to stay in Boston, perhaps we would have a better government after Marcos. And this nation would have remained the top economic performer in ASEAN. But there is something about death that affects election results. Only in the Philippines. And this day would not have been special after all.
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