The Philippine Fund was launched in Wall Street in New York, and investors were forming a beeline at the Board of Investments. Gross National Product hovered near eight percent.
Three years after the people power revolution that catapulted her to the presidency, things were looking good for the Philippines, admired for leading the way for the peaceful return of democracy in the midst of a dictatorship. In 1989, Mrs. Aquino was walking the tightrope between dictatorship and the full restoration of democracy, and so far, so good.
A few days after she returned from her US trip, the dream turned into a nightmare.
At dawn of Dec. 1, rebel soldiers led by Col. Gregorio Honasan launched the biggest and bloodiest coup against the Aquino administration and the gains of that state visit and the other economic strides taken by the fledging democracy were set back, virtually wiped out. The Philippine Fund all but crashed. GNP shrunk. And investors headed for Thailand and Vietnam.
That is perhaps why, when asked to comment on the arrest of Honasan, Mrs. Aquino replied: "I prefer not to talk about him."
On a personal note, the mother in Mrs. Aquino probably cannot forget that in August 1987, when rebel soldiers assaulted Malacañang, her only son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III (now a Tarlac congressmen) almost died from a bullet in the neck. To this day, bullet fragments are still lodged below his ear.
The 1989 coup attempt was not Honasan’s last against Mrs. Aquino and though she retained her grip on power, subsequent economic gains were not as projected.
The STAR asked her on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the EDSA people power revolution in February this year if she has forgiven the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and her former EDSA allies – including Honasan – who had conspired to unseat her during her seven-year presidency.
"Is the forgiveness there? I guess it is, because what is forgiveness about? With forgiveness, you don’t think of doing something in retaliation. I’ve never gone to that. I’ve never tried to exact revenge. But the forgetting will be difficult," Mrs. Aquino said.