Only in the Philippines!

“An unlikely man of the moment.”

This is how the article in the April 26 issue of Time Magazine describes Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“The Next Aquino: Can Noynoy save the Philippines?” has topped Time’s Most Read list as of 4 p.m. Friday.



It starts off with a description of Aquino’s campaign in Zamboanga: “While aides and well-wishers murmur around him, Aquino stands and holds out his arms as if awaiting handcuffs. They are lined with scratches and bruises—the toll of ceaseless hours of plunging into throngs of supporters and pressing the flesh. He grins: ‘It’s another demonstration of people power.’”

Time sums up the events that led to Aquino’s presidential bid:

“By his own admission, Aquino would not be running at all had it not been for the massive outpouring of public grief and affection that followed his mother’s (former President Corazon Aquino) death from cancer last August,” Time reports. “He says he now walks the same path first trod by his revered parents. ‘They made automatic in me the preference to take up the cudgels for those who have less in life, for the powerless,’ [Aquino] says. ‘Why should I veer away from their footprints?’”

Humble man

The article also quotes Cebu businessman, Chris Tio, a volunteer for the Aquino campaign as saying: “The senator is a humble man at an extraordinary moment. We’re in a fight for the soul of this nation.”

Says Time: “[Aquino] speaks eagerly and repeatedly about empowering the people by delivering them ‘freedom from hunger.’ His campaign has made curbing corruption its No. 1 goal; translated from Tagalog, its main slogan reads, ‘With No Corruption, There’s No Poverty.’”

The article also touches on Aquino’s family history and describes him as a “product of status quo.”

“Both his parents, Ninoy and Cory, came from pedigreed stock—landed, aristocratic families that have long been part of the ruling establishment,” says Time. “Similarly, Aquino’s vice presidential running mate, Mar Roxas, is the grandson of Manuel Roxas, the country’s first President.”

Closest rival

The article also mentions Aquino’s closest rival Sen. Manny Villar, describing the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer as a “suave, smiling businessman with a rags-to-riches story.”

“Observers say the presidential race has become a contest between Villar’s populism (and deep pockets) and the Aquino family legacy,” Time reports.

“[Aquino] talks with ease and intelligence about his plans to expand the country’s middle class with microcredit programs, to boost industry, universalize health care, fix education and shake up the judiciary,” says Time. “But there are doubts about how savvy an operator he will be when thrown deep into the murky world of Philippine politics.”

The article also quotes Inquirer columnist and former National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director General Solita “Winnie” Monsod saying that Aquino “doesn’t have his father’s charisma, but he has his mother’s sincerity. Whether that’s enough, I don’t know.”

People remember

“The people remember his parents,” Monsod adds. “For them it’s like going back to Camelot.”

Says Time: “Aquino is more humble about his role, fitting for a person who has lived quietly for much of his life in the shadow of his parents’ legend.”

“We are just instruments put in the right position to execute God’s will, Aquino tells Time. “I crossed my Rubicon in 1983,” he adds, referring to the year his father, the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated. “I cannot accept that he would die for nothing.”

And judging from the “confetti and shredded paper” billowing from out of the office buildings in Zamboanga, “the wail of sirens and the ceaseless chanting of ‘Noynoy!,’ neither can countless Filipinos.”
Source: Inquirer Research, INQUIRER.net