‘Ninoy was lucky he had me for a wife’

HACIENDA LUISITA, Tarlac — Eighteen years after the assassination of her husband Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and minutes after formally unveiling a museum in his honor here, former President Corazon Aquino allowed herself a pat on the back.

"Ninoy was lucky to have a wife like me," Mrs. Aquino quipped after a Mass celebrated to mark the opening of the 5,000-square meter Aquino Center.

Some P200 million from private individuals and corporations here and abroad was raised for the center, which stands on a tree-shaded, five-hectare lot donated by the Cojuangco family.

Some 500 guests who attended the opening ceremonies applauded in agreement after Mrs. Aquino made the remark. But the former president, married to Ninoy for 28 years, later apologized to her friend Sister Christine Tan for sounding a little too confident.

But Tan told her, "It’s about time Cory, that you praised yourself."

For truly, the sprawling center, designed by Ninoy’s nephew Dan Lichauco and the Francisco Mañosa architectural firm, easily draws praise for its clean architectural lines, open spaces and porticoes.

A loving monument to Ninoy, and to the era in which he belonged, the Aquino Center is also a repository of memorabilia of the struggle for the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.

Ninoy’s life and work are documented in blown-up photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings painstakingly catalogued and framed.

"We want you to remember Ninoy as a loving husband and father, as a dedicated public servant and finally as a Filipino who believed that the Filipino is worth dying for," she said.

Inspired by the John F. Kennedy Museum and Memorial Library in Boston, Massachusetts, Aquino started work for the construction of the center in 1993, a year after her presidency.

She said the construction of the center was a "virtual people power in itself" for it is a product of the financial and moral support of friends and admirers of the Aquinos.

Benigno Aquino Foundation president Cesar Buenaventura said Cory did not want to start work on the center during her presidency, out of delicadeza.

"She is very scrupulous, and she knew that donations made to the center while she was president could have strings attached. She also did not want to pressure anybody," said Buenaventura.

He also told Cory that the center should also have her memorabilia, "because she is after all, the Philippines’ first woman president." The former president then acquiesced.

As she toured guests, including Tarlac’s barangay captains, around the various exhibits, Cory Aquino was asked if she felt Ninoy would have been proud of her.

"He better!" she smiled.

To many visitors, a focal point of the exhibit is the glass-encased bloodstained white safari suit of Ninoy, which Ninoy wore on the day of his death. The suit was kept in storage in Boston until the opening of the Aquino Center.

The center also has an audio visual room where a 20-minute video of Ninoy is played for visitors. It also has a convention hall and an auditorium. Lichauco said his aunt Cory had wanted the Center to be "impressive, but not ostentatious."

"We wanted it to have that ‘Wow!’ effect on the people," said Lichauco, son of Ninoy’s sister Maur Aquino-Lichauco.

Cory says the building of the Center is just the beginning.

"The challenge is how to keep this going," she said. Some P30 million to P40 million a month is needed for the upkeep of the center, which also houses the Center for People Power and Development.

But for now, the euphoria of finally opening the Center is more than enough for Cory Aquino.

"You see, Ninoy and I brought out the best in each other," she said.