The Aquinos will not be greatly missed

THE passing of Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III last June 24, 2021, to our mind, also symbolizes the passing of an era where our historical narrative for the over the 30 years that the Aquinos and the Liberal Party are in power was dominated by them.

It has been said that as part of our Asian culture, we should always show “respect” for the dead and the dear departed; we should not be therefore “harsh” in passing judgement on them.

But the Aquinos who left this world—the father, Ninoy, the mother, Corazon and yes, the son, Noynoy, are not ordinary individuals but public figures whose actions and decisions, both private and public, left a lasting impact on our society and as to where we are right now—still a backward, violence-ridden, third world country.

When each one of them died, Filipinos were bombarded by ‘praise releases’ that all extol their “virtues” and “accomplishments,” all of which, in turn, helped colored our views and assessment on what they actually “contributed” to our nation. All of these are of course, efforts for Filipinos to remember them “kindly,” with “veneration,” even.

Thus, when harsh remarks were thrown Noynoy’s way after his death due to his being irresponsible with his body and his health, those who did so were also harshly treated by his followers.

But we say what happened is just “tit-for-tat,” considering the harsh and perverted manner that the Aquinos have treated their political enemies, the Marcos family, especially, since 1986 up to this time.

Sila ang unang nagpakita ng kawalang respeto at pambabastos sa mga namatay na Pilipino, katulad ng kanilang ginawa kay Pang. Ferdinand Marcos at sa kanyang pamilya, kay Chief Justice Renato Corona at sa pamilya ng SAF 44.

You see? Tit-for-tat. The Aquinos are now gaining the fruit of the seed of hatred and divisiveness that they planted in the country’s body politic and the Filipino psyche.

Having stated this, we asked ourselves: What would be the Aquinos’ “legacy?”

For Ninoy, whose sole ambition is to become president of the country at all cost, his conspiracy with the CPP since the party’s founding in 1968, has continued to cause unnecessary social division and violence up to now.

For his wife, Cory, her decision to open up the country’s economy to foreign intrusion and oligarchic domination continue to hobble our country’s true economic potentials that impoverished millions of Filipinos; under Cory, the CPP-NPA regained their strength.

And not much change happened under Noynoy—the oligarch has tightened its grip on our economic life, the communists continue to menace the land and worse, we are almost on the grip of becoming a ‘Narco State’ as it cannot be denied that drug lords have prospered too under his term.

William Shakespeare, in ‘Julius Caesar,’ wrote: “The evil that men do lives after them, the good is often interred with their bones.” Fortunately, we are now finding the time and the effort to attend to and correct all the evils that they have left behind. Their passing will not be greatly missed.