Ninoy and Cory: Our heroes too

Ninoy Aquino and Cory Aquino are “our” heroes too.

Most of today’s living Filipinos have shared their pain, their suffering, their sacrifice as well as their hopes and their dreams.

So forgive me if I feel offended and concerned when political mongrels and election tacticians use the person and memory of Ninoy and Cory Aquino to further their political agenda and publicity mileage.

On at least two occasions, I have heard of some party official bragging that the well of goodwill and sympathy for Ninoy and Cory Aquino won’t dry up because there are more than enough occasions and excuses to remind people of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, which would then be beneficial to Senator Noynoy Aquino’s Presidential bid.

It is said that the tactician and their publicists intend to play up and dramatize every event directly or indirectly related to Ninoy and Cory Aquino. The intention is to celebrate or commemorate the couples’ birthdays, death anniversary, wedding anniversary, maybe even Ninoy’s date of imprisonment, his return from Boston or any pathetic excuse just to keep the connection alive as well as the public sentimentality.

It is interesting how “moral ascendancy” can quickly transform into a desecration of the dead by virtue of political opportunism performed by mongrels.

At great personal cost, Ninoy Aquino and Cory Aquino both kept their personal and political integrity. President Cory Aquino made every effort to be true and sincere even to the point of admitting her human failures.

Should we now allow politics and tactics to dishonor and disrespect what they have tried so hard to live by? I am not their son, their relative nor have I ever engaged in their business or politics. Yet I am one of the millions of Filipinos who held them high as beacons of hope, standards of integrity and true heroes.

They are my Heroes too, and I’ll be damned if I will quietly allow two bit politicians and mongrels to abuse and tarnish the memory I keep of them. If Senator Noynoy Aquino is to become President of this great country perhaps he should start by protecting the memory of his beloved parents and start reviewing the people around him.

Who among those who claim to share his aspirations would truly measure up to the standards that his parents lived by? Who among those around Noynoy can be counted upon to make real sacrifices for the family, for the party, and above all, for God and Country?

In context, who among them really understands the values and lifestyle choices that Ninoy and Cory made, one of which was not to bring undue attention and glory to ones self.

* * *

“Mission accomplished”

A well- entrenched administration official recently explained to me how the “Maguindanao Massacre” turned out to be a mission accomplished in terms of politics. The mission being referred to is the “political decapitation” of the powerful Ampatuan clan.

How it happened of course was totally far from the plan, which was to beat Governor Ampatuan through the automated elections, which they have no power to tamper with.

My source tells me that because the government had lost its ferocity in dealing with rebels and criminals, it chose to wage a war against the MILF by proxy, which is a common practice of many governments around the world. In our case the government had beefed up the Ampatuans with weapons and cash to neutralize or win a stalemate with the MILF.

In time the Ampatuans became a powerful political force that allegedly got into the business of selling senatorial slots. Politicians were reportedly charged millions upon millions of pesos for whoever wanted to make it from number one or top ranking senator down to number fourteen.

The audacity of the Ampatuans did not sit well with a certain godfather of the KAMPI. As a result, certain members of KAMPI got the idea of building up the Mangudadatus who in turn could neutralize if not replace the Ampatuans.

In fact, according to my source, in the last Presidential elections, the names Toto, Pax, etc which were mentioned in the Garci tapes were that of the Mangudadatus and was undeniable proof that the Mangudadatus had seriously impaired and disrupted the “political livelihood business” of the Ampatuans.

The final threat and the final challenge was when Toto Mangudadatu’s backers in Malacanang and KAMPI convinced him to run for Governor against Andal Ampatuan Sr. This was a calibrated move that was undoubtedly going to end up in a blood bath. No one really knows if the plan was just to beat the Amaptuans at the polls or was it a plan to orchestrate a “dog fight” where nobody comes out alive.

Unfortunately, no one ever imagined that the political strategy would end up in a cold-blooded execution of innocent civilians. They certainly did not consider that the executioners were no longer in their right minds.

Sadly we have 57 or 59 dead, 1 guy in jail, and at least 79 killers on the loose. We have yet to know if the Mangudadatus are interested in fighting with the MILF and if they will actually be a better choice over the Ampatuans. Will the blood of the innocents finally bring a new Maguindanao? Or will the political decapitation of the Ampatuans simply bring in a “New franchise” with new and revised prices for 2010?