By: Harvey S. Keh
Last Saturday, the country woke up to the sad news that former
President Corazon Aquino has passed away more than a year after she
was diagnosed to have colon cancer. Millions of Filipinos have
expressed their grief as our country has lost not only a former leader
but more importantly, an international icon of freedom, democracy,
good governance and ethical leadership. Until the very end and even
when she was already experiencing so much pain, former President
Aquino continued to tell all of us to not only pray for her but to
pray for our country. She was a loving mother not only to her children
but to each and every Filipino. Never since the time of the death of
her husband, Ninoy Aquino, have we seen such massive outpouring of
love, adulation and support from the Filipino people. Once again, our
country that is often ravaged and divided by political scandals,
bickering and insatiable greed by our leaders has been united by
former President Aquino as she did when she led the restoration of
democracy through the EDSA People Power 1 Revolution.
Yet, I believe that the sacrifices of Ninoy and Cory Aquino will all
be lost if we as a people do not do our own share in helping move our
country forward. Ninoy died so our country may have freedom yet we
still have millions of Filipino families who continue to be bound by
the bondages of poverty while many of our present government leaders
live in expensive mansions and travel in style using luxury vehicles.
Until her very last gasp, Cory fought and prayed for Truth,
Accountability and Good Governance in our country. We saw how she
stood by NBN-ZTE Star witness Jun Lozada when he was besieged by the
forces of our present administration after he revealed the details of
the corruption-laden deal. We saw how she marched with thousands of
Filipinos to oppose moves by this present administration to push for
Charter Change as a means to continue to stay in power beyond 2010. We
saw how she took a firm stand in asking for the resignation of
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005 when Arroyo couldn’t explain
her involvement in the Hello Garci scandal. Despite leaving the
Presidency and facilitating a peaceful turnover of power in 1992, Cory
continued to remain active in ensuring that the evil forces that
continue to seek to destroy our democratic institutions will never
succeed. Now that she has passed away, we are challenged to not let
these sacrifices go to naught as now more than ever, the Filipino
people should continue to fight the good fight that Ninoy and Cory
Aquino started.
As the 2010 elections draw near, we celebrate another legacy of Cory,
the restoration of our right to vote for the leaders that we believe
will effectively and ethically govern our beloved country. Let us not
put to waste this right by not only voting for the right leaders but
more importantly, volunteering our time, resources and energy to
support them. The problem with many Filipinos is we often choose to
stay in the sidelines and remain non-partisan in the elections and
just let the candidates slug it out with each other. When we let this
happen, the candidate which has more money and political machinery
will more often than not win over the one who has less. We have seen
this for the past elections where the corrupt and greedy politicians
continue to win while those who have the better track record and the
best intentions to serve the country lose out. Let us not let this
happen again in 2010, people power was a legacy that Cory will forever
leave behind to the Filipino people, I believe that in the upcoming
elections we will have a golden opportunity to honor this legacy and
sacrifice made by Ninoy and Cory by uniting ourselves to unceasingly
volunteer, campaign and support the kind of leaders that our country
needs today. Leaders that will embody the kind of effective,
empowering, selfless, courageous and God-fearing leadership that both
Ninoy and Cory so generously gifted our nation with.
Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com.
______________________________________________________
Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social
Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government and is the Lead
Covenor of Kaya Natin.
20 Feedbacks on "Cory Aquino and the 2010 Elections"
martin
,,it so sad,,,,bcoz of her our country is free from dictatorship by marcos
Jose p. Potueco Jr.
I totally agree with you. The grief of missing Cory should be transformed into a positive action: To work now and lay the ground work to elect better and dependable leaders. I should start with myself.
vic arcenas
in as much decency and high regards moral in public service are the legacy of the Aquino’s in politics, then , why not consider Noynoy as a candidate for 2010 presidential election?
dr. michael bengwayan
that was well said, i agree to what you said. i was there in 1983, 1986 and now. we must put a candidate on 2010, even though far from ninoy and cory’s characterisitics, would be at least share and fight for some of their ideals.
marco
Ninoy and Cory worked hard to restore our democracy. And Ninoy gave his life to bring it back. It is our duty to defend that democracy. Let us not let those selfish politicians take our democracy away from us again!
Johann
Even before I read this, I was thinking the past few days that maybe the greatest honor we could give Cory is to continue the fight for real and effective democracy. I own a web application development company and so my best resources I can volunteer is in helping come up with web/Internet-based apps that will support this movement - whether updating/enhancing the current Kaya Natin website or making a new one. Will email you directly for more details and ideas. Thanks!
dr arnel
AMEN to that vic a. I got palpitations when I heard Kris on her statement that SHE and NOYNOY are in in the position of continuing the work of their mom. It also came to me that NOYNOY is a choice and be united oppositions candidate. I know a lot of personalities have already expressed to run but for the love of democracy and respect of our recent heroes, they must give way to NOYNOY. Gray mater input anybody.
Edward
In Saving Private Ryan, the dying words of Capt Miller to Private Ryan really struck me the most:
Earn this.
Likewise, Cory and Ninoy sacrificed a lot for our sake.
Now we have to prove to ourselves we are really worth dying for.
The upcoming elections is the opportunity to prove to ourselves we can be selfless heroes in our own right.
Carl M. Asuzano
I would always want to see a massive swarm of Filipino people decreeing and bolstering one salient goal for the country. But given the despicable scheme of this bureaucracy, oh god, am I am dreaming?
still weeping
if my history is correct this country did not exist until spain BRUTALY colonized the people and named it philippines in honor of king philip of spain. but they could not unite the people under one nation. JOSE RIZAL did! nationalism was born. we have so many heroes. katipuneros. after 300yrs of being a slave to the spaniards the americans came and kicked the spaniards butt all the way back to spain. not long after that we were enslaved again by the japanese in world war 2. my mother and her family did not want to leave under japanese rule so they lived in a foxhole for 5yrs. my father joined the phil army and fought for this country until mcarthur came back from australia in 1945. marcos came along and stole that freedom right from under our noses. he took all the country’s money and gave it to his generals and he installed a puppet congress. he threW all the opposition in jail. one of them was ninoy aquino, cory aquino’s husband and the rest is history.
we have to be thankful as a nation that we can again speak our MIND again. the problem with the muslims can b fixed thru mutual respect. the communist we can wage war unless we want china or north korea style of freedom(?). corruption starts at the top. some of these people in power were marcos cronies. they got rich under his regime so we have to be careful in 2010. as long as the army stays with the people our grandparents and forefathers and ninoy all died in vain.
sam
Kung sino pa ang mabait, siya pang kinukuha agad.
Sana inuna na yong mga peste na nasa gobyerno unanng una na si pandak.
nelson
well said harvey!
mabuhay ang Pilipino
francis jay
I don’t think Noynoy is ready for the presidency,experience-wise. He’s only been in the senate for less than two years. His father Ninoy at least finished his first term as senator before he was chosen as the Liberal Presidential bet in ‘72. Let Noynoy finish his 6 years then we’ll see. Kris is beyond doubt known all over the country,but she’s too deeply involved in showbiz. But they can be the rallying symbols we all can rely on, in honor of dear Tita Cory.
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i give my Condolence to the Aquino family for the death of the former president Corazon Aquino. she is one of the worlds notable icon in the struggle for Democracy and Freedom.
Wils
Well said but who do we vote for? I think there’s a dearth of candidates who has the morality to lead us. Eddie Villanueva? Forget it… I don’t see any sincerity in him. He’s a fake? Jamby Madrigal? Nevermind…. that shameless hussy’s only interested in pursuing her own interests. Her tossing her hat into this fight for presidency is akin to “sending in the clowns”! The jury is still out on Loren “turncoat” Legarda, Chiz, Manny V., BF, and Mar Roxas. As for Estrada? Oh please…. nevermind that drunkard, womanizer etc. He has no right to talk about graft and corruption when he’s the poster boy of such. The only reason why GMA won the election was because of that alleged one phone call and her being the “lesser of two evil” back in 2004.
Rowena Felizardo
I think the death of Tita Cory at this crucial time before the 2010 elections has a purpose. I think what we need now is a president with a heart truly for the Filipino people because like what Kris said, The Filipino is worth it.”. We have had the most brilliant, scholarly and experienced presidents in Marcos and Arroyo. But look where the country is still in now. What our poor country needs to get up again from all the turmoils caused by past dictators and greedy leaders is a president with integrity, sincerity and truly loves the Filipino people. I know there are a lot of well-meaning candidates, but with the wealth and power of other aspirants around, we need a candidate that will unite the Filipinos into a winning vote. I truly believe that God, in His time, has used Tita Cory even in her death as His instrument to finally answer all the prayers of the Filipino people who never failed in their faith and trust in Him after all these years of suffering. I don’t know Noynoy or his performance, but in all desperation, I will bet on him to be our president for I know the ideals and love for the Filipino people in Ninoy and Cory’s hearts reign also in his heart. And with “Prayer Power” this time with Tita Cory up there in heaven and closer to the real Power, I believe nothing is impossible for the Filipino people. Let us continue praying and work together to make our dream as a people a reality. We poor Filipinos deserve a lot more.
SAVOY BROWN
We should elect a non trapo in the
palace this 2010.Brother Harvey can I
be a member of KAYA NATIN.
jose l.m. garcia
i like that comment re the philippines being a non-entity prior to the spaniards who mistreated us. oh, boy! that was the truth! filipinos will NEVER be united simply because filipinos are inherently divisive and narrow-minded. filipinos only become sort of “united” when events like the assassination of ninoy aquino, edsa 1, the passing of president cory or similar epic-proportioned things happen. you see, being regionalistic and overly proud we easily lose steam after a spurt of emotional upheaval in the midst occur.
ninoy’s and cory’s sacrifices, alas, remain to be justified by the act or acts of the nation as a united front against this little urchin beside the pasig river in the coming days ahead - most especially as the elections of 2010 comes into view. as a citizen, i shall be observant and hope, with my own humble contributions to a united philippines, that things will really be for the better and greater good of the people.
Peter john Bajao
THUMBS UP!!!!!rowena i agree!!filipinos needs to be awaken in choosing a leader in our country…we need to choose lyk what cory & ninoy did….gumising na tayo!!!! CORY YOU ARE WORTHY TO BE CALLED AS OUR NATIONAL HERO……
corazon
LET US VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE THAT IS SELFLESS GOD FEARING HONEST AND WAS ALSO A DEVOTED PERSON TO PROTECT THE POOR PEOPLES RIGHTS SO TAHT OUR COUNTRY WILL MOVE TOWARDS A GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE AND CAN BE IN PAR WITH THE OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES IN OUR NEIGBORHOOD LIKE CHINA OR SINGAPORE OR VIETNAM OR TAIWAN THEY HAVE BEEN VERY DEVELOPED ECONOMIES NOW BECAUSE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE NO SELF SERVING OFFFICAILS IN THE GOVERNMENT AND THEIR LEADERS ARE GOD FEARING AND HONEST AND SELF DETERMINED TO PUSH FORWARD THEIR COUNTRY TO ECONOMIC STABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT.WE CAN ACHIEVE WHAT OUR FORMER PRESIDENT CORAZON AQUINO AND FORMER SENATOR BENIGNO AQUINO HAVE SACRIFICED FOR OUR COUNTRY TO ATTAIN THIS IDEALS WE WILL VOTE THE RIGHT PERSON TO LEAD THIS COUNTRY THE PHILIPPINES TO A BETTER FUTURE AND EQUAL TO OUR ASIAN COUNTRIES IN THE NEIGBORHOOD.LET US VOTE FOR ‘NOYNOY’AQUINO III FOR PRESIDENT IN THE 2010 ELECTIONS
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