Mrs. Aquino, who has been traveling around the country in the last couple of months to meet with people who have been helping their communities, told a businessman’s forum in Makati City yesterday that some people have misconstrued her consultations as a political campaign.
"Recently, in one of my visits in Novaliches, after explaining what the People Power Movement is all about, I asked my audience if they had any questions.
"A woman raised her hand and she started by saying: "May itatanong po ako, kanya lang ay baka magalit kayo."
"Huwag po kayong magalit ha," Mrs. Aquino quoted the woman as saying. "Hindi po ba ito yung parang tinatawag na parang kinakampanya ninyo young kapatid ninyong si Danding Cojuangco?"
("Please do not get mad, Ma’am. Isn’t what you’re doing some sort of a campaign for your brother Danding Cojuangco?’)
Mrs. Aquino said she told the woman "Unang una, hindi ko kapatid si Danding Cojuangco. Pinsan ko siya. At hindi ko hihingin ang boto ninyo para sa kanino mang kandidato, dahil hindi ako mag-eendorse ng kandidato para sa pagka-pangulo."
("First of all, Danding Cojuangco is not my brother. He is my cousin. And I will not ask for your vote for anybody, for that matter, because I will not endorse any candidate for president.")
Mrs. Aquino and Danding are first cousins, their fathers Jose and Eduardo, respectively, being brothers. The cousins have not been on the same side of the political fence for decades now, but Danding Cojuangco told STAR columnist Teodoro Benigno, a former press secretary of Mrs. Aquino, that there are moves to bring about a reconciliation between them.
Mrs. Aquino said she herself has not been spared suspicion that she is running for office.
"When I visited a school in Pasay City, two of the teachers asked my assistant Margarita Juico why I was involving myself in this People Power People movement. They asked ‘Kakandidato ba si Mrs. Aquino’. ("Is Mrs. Aquino a candidate?")
The former president, who is launching the People Power People movement on Aug. 20 this year, the eve of the 20th anniversary of her husband Benigno’s assassination, expressed regret that the people become suspicious when visited by personalities with a political background.
"This to me is confirmation that our people are deeply suspicious of politicians whom they know only to be interested in them come election time. The real question they are asking is, ‘What’s in it for you’?"
She said that as far as she is concerned, "What’s in it for me is getting to know what ‘People Power People’ are doing for our people and getting inspired by them."
The former president said the only candidate she is certain to campaign for is her only son Tarlac Rep. Beningo "Noynoy" Aquino III, who is running for his third term.
"I want to be remembered by the Filipino people not for whom I have endorsed. I want them to remember me as someone who did her best to help them," Mrs. Aquino said.