Cory Aquino leadership

President Maria Corazon Aquino was born on Jan. 25, 1933 in San Juan de Dios Hospital in the city of Manila. Today, Jan. 25, 2018 we commemorate her 85th birthday. From the day her husband Ninoy Aquino was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983 to the time she stepped down as president of the Philippines in 1992, she led her people through many struggles including several coup attempts. 

She has become an icon of democracy and the symbol of People Power not only in the Philippines but throughout the world. When she passed away  in 2009, 17 years after she stepped down as president, there was public outpouring of grief and millions lined the funeral route. For those 17 years, Cory Aquino became the inspirational leader and moral conscience of the Filipino people. Three years ago, I wrote about the Cory Aquino Leadership for a book that my wife and I published: “The Aquino Legacy: An Enduring Narrative.”  I have reprinted that article here because I hope it will serve as an inspiration and model to the present and future  generation of leaders in our country.

The Cory Aquino Leadership from The Aquino Legacy: An Enduring Narrative 

Leadership is at its best when the vision is strategic, the voice persuasive, and the results tangible. This is the Corazon Aquino leadership that restored freedom and dignity to the Filipino.

With only a few exceptions, such as the leadership of Manuel L. Quezon and Corazon Aquino, Philippine history has become a case study of how selfish and shortsighted leaders in politics, business, and religion can destroy the economy and the moral fever of any society.

But where do we find the leaders who will lead us to a golden age that we have longed for and prayed for?

People have been talking and writing about leadership from the beginning of history. Warnings about the evil consequences of wrong leadership are as old as the Bible.

In Matthew 15:14, the Good Book warns, “If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

One of the most profound lessons on leadership came from a management guru, Warren Bennis, who wrote that leadership cannot be taught. He said: “More leaders have been made by accident, circumstances, sheer grit or will than have been made by all the leadership courses put together. Developing character and vision is the way leaders invent themselves.”

 We are all aware that Cory never intended to become a national leader. But a combination of events put her in a position where she could be, not just a national symbol, but also the national leader if she possessed the right qualities. Fortunately, she did possess them.

Thousands of books and case studies have been written about leadership. Dozens of leadership characteristics have been proposed. Out of the many I have read, there seems to be five that consistently appeared in everyone’s list.

A leader must be forward-looking or a visionary, possess the virtue of honesty or integrity, inspiring, competent, and have the courage and will to surmount any challenge.

But among these characteristics, it is particularly the ability to be forward-looking and to inspire a shared vision that elevated someone from being a credible individual to being a true leader.

Cory showed she had courage when she dared to speak publicly against the martial law forces of the Marcos dictatorship. Time and again, she proved that she and her family were icons of integrity. The millions who listened to her, from the crowds in Luneta to the halls of the US Congress, were always moved by her speeches. She showed tremendous political skills and organizational capabilities as she welded the many disparate opposition forces into a single group during the snap election. She led the transformation of the nation’s economic and political system from cronyism to democracy.

When Cory transformed her mission from that of avenging her husband’s death to a crusade for the restoration of democracy and human rights, she became a leader of her people and the embodiment of their vision of a nation for their children.

But leadership is also not just about characteristics and personality traits. Leadership is an event, not only a trait. It is about what you do with who you are, more than just about who you are.

There is such a thing, as writer Michael Useem says, a leadership moment which happens at a time when a leader’s credibility and reputation is on the line, when the fate or fortune of others depends on what the leader will do. This leadership moment happens when a decision is made to serve a greater good.

For Cory, there were many such leadership moments. One was when she decided to run for president under a martial law regime. Then she decided to convene a constitutional commission and allow Congress to be elected when she could have ruled by decree for a longer period.

There was also her decision not to leave Malacañang at the height of the Honasan-led coup attempt.

But her defining moment was when she decided not to run for reelection in 1992 in spite of overwhelming evidence that she could have won a second term.

One of the greatest gifts that Corazon Aquino has left us with is the legacy of a leadership that symbolized and expressed what was truly the best in the Filipino. We can only pray and hope that she has left behind in other people, especially her family, the conviction and the will to carry on. 

Creative writing classes for kids and teens

Young Writers’ Hangout on January 27, February  10 and 24, March 3 and 17 (1:30pm-3pm, independent, stand-alone sessions) at Fully Booked BGC.  For more details, email [email protected].

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