Noynoy at 50: No marriage for now

MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III turns 50 years old tomorrow. At this point in his life, he says he is setting aside his personal concerns – like getting married – to focus on his presidential bid.  

“I really cannot focus on myself now and only The One who knows all things can say what will happen to me, and that includes getting married,” he said.

Aquino said the people must know his background to understand why having a lifetime partner cannot be his priority at this time.

Growing up, Aquino said his father, slain senator and national hero Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., asked him to look after his mother and sisters. The “bulk of his life,” he said, had been for his family and their principles.           

“So how can one be selfish and think only about himself? I was talking to one of my friends and we said sometimes it could really be tiring. You want to just smash your head into the wall,” he said.

“But you cannot turn your back on what you had seen all throughout your life. So when (people) come knocking and say you still have to do something, there is no way you can say no,” he added.

He said he experienced a difficult life growing up in a political environment since he was 12, the time when martial law was declared.   

“You ask me about personal matters growing up. What I experienced was how it was being pressured (by the government) because my father was in the opposition,” Aquino said.

He said even their gardener, his nanny, and his father’s bodyguard were detained and tortured because of their connection to the Aquinos. 

He promised to continue his advocacy for a corruption-free government, noting that recovering the P280 billion lost in corruption every year would make a big difference in the lives of Filipinos. 

“I was in North Cotabato and saw the airport there still unfinished. It will only cost P100 million, such a small amount compared to what we lose to corruption,” he said

Aquino said his birthday tomorrow would be a regular working day.

Yesterday, his volunteers gathered at the Ateneo high school covered court in Quezon City for a birthday celebration-cum-fundraiser.

Aquino said he is counting on his supporters because he entered the presidential race quite late. He also stressed that party funds could not be exhausted on campaign ads alone but in the guarding of votes as well. 

Aquino said many people’s organizations have promised to campaign for them.

SCTEX controversy

While Aquino still leads as the preferred presidential candidate of voters according to surveys, his candidacy is challenged by allegations of overpricing of Hacienda Luisita land for the right of way for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

Cavite Rep. Crispin Remulla first exposed the supposed P83-million deal between the Arroyo administration and the Aquino-Cojuangco clan in November last year.

In the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Forum in Quezon City yesterday, Remulla said Aquino might have used part of the proceeds from the deal to fund his candidacy for re-election as Tarlac congressman in 2004. 

LP spokesman Quezon province fourth district Rep. Erin Tañada III dismissed the accusation, saying it is mere politicking.

Tañada said the SCTEX controversy and the murder of Luisita farmers are still being investigated by the House of Representatives.

Aquino has denied involvement in the alleged deal. 

Remulla alleged that the Cojuangcos received P50 million as part of the SCTEX right-of-way payment in 2004, when Aquino was pitted against a certain Victor Yap for Tarlac representative.          

Remulla alleged in November that the Arroyo administration paid P83 million for the right of way and invested another P170 million to build a road interchange across the 6,400-hectare sugar estate.

He alleged that the government purchased 83 hectares of Luisita land at P100 per square meter, 10 times the going rate of P6 to P8 per square meter for raw sugar lands in Tarlac. 

Remulla said the Lusita massacre on Nov. 16, 2004 was the direct result of the SCTEX controversy because the farmers who owned 33.8 percent of Hacienda Luisita protested the unfair sharing of revenues.

LP supporters killed 

Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is investigating the killing of LP candidates and supporters in Zamboanga del Sur.

So far, eight LP supporters have been killed in election-related attacks.

In a letter to LP vice presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Roxas II, CHR chairperson Leila de Lima said the CHR sub-office in Pagadian City is now conducting an independent parallel investigation on the murders of LP supporters Rascal Afdal and Hadja Hamira Adbullah Agcong, as well as LP candidate Motalliden Pacman “Steve” Tapodoc.

De Lima said the CHR probe is separate from the police investigation. 

Initial CHR findings showed that on the morning of Jan. 4, 48-year-old Afdal was shot dead by two unidentified men on motorcycles. Afdal was a supporter of re-electionist Labagan Vice Mayor Kitty Nandang.

Agcong, also a supporter of Nandang, was shot thrice by an unidentified gunman after getting out of her vehicle in front of the Gaisano mall on Rizal Avenue in Pagadian City on the evening of Jan. 6.

Tapodoc, LP candidate for municipal councilor of Labangan, was shot in the morning of Jan. 17, also by motorcycle-riding gunmen near the Philippine Independent Church.

The CHR is also looking into the murder of a certain Toto Tagana, another Nadang supporter.

The LP said two more of its supporters were killed in Ilocos Sur and Butuan City.

Cecilio Tolentino, LP candidate for councilor in Magsingal, Ilocos Sur, was shot dead on Jan. 28 in front of his house. Tolentino was a former mayor of Magsingal.

LP volunteer Roldan Curalde of the Mabuting Pilipino Movement (MPM) was gunned down along Langihan Road in Upper Doongan, Butuan City on Jan. 28.

Also killed were LP supporter Rose Pajente, operations manager of the National Food Authority in Zamboanga del Sur; and Bong Dizon, coordinator of the Noynoy Aquino for President Movement in Mexico, Pampanga. - With Perseus Echeminada