Cory children not keen on GMA visit
Cory Children Not Keen On GMA Visit
MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo can visit the wake of former President Corazon Aquino if she wants, but the Aquino children have made it known that they are not looking forward to it.
Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and television host Kris Aquino-Yap said they were not keen on seeing Mrs. Arroyo at their mother’s wake or funeral which is set on Wednesday.
President Arroyo cut short her US trip reportedly to attend the necrological services for Mrs. Aquino.
But Noynoy said the family would respect President Arroyo’s decision to go to his mother’s wake.
He said that in their younger years, his parents taught him and his siblings to be polite and respectful to elders.
“May kalayaan naman po siyang dumalaw. At tayo po’y nung batang bata pa’y talagang parating inuulit ng ating ama at ng ating ina yung katagang di gawain ng edukadong tao ‘yong pambabastos (She has the freedom to visit. My parents have always inculcated in us since we were very young that as educated individuals, we should not be rude),” Noynoy replied when asked by GMA-7’s Jessica Soho in an interview Saturday night if President Arroyo was welcome at the wake.
Noynoy said he would be polite toward Mrs. Arroyo if she comes to the wake and prays for his mother, but not to the point of being eager to see the President.
“Kung pupunta ho dito, kung gusto ho niyang magdasal, siguro ho eh thank you na rin ho (If she will come here and wants to pray, she’s welcome and well, thank you) Pero yung point naman na I’m looking forward to it, I’m not,” Noynoy admitted.
In separate interviews with reporters, Noynoy also said the family would welcome the President “if she shows up.”
“But an enthusiastic welcome is, I think, a bit too much to ask for,” he said.
He said his lack of enthusiasm had to do with the many unresolved issues of the Arroyo administration.
“(We) have all these issues that remain unresolved, starting with ‘Hello, Garci,’ NBN-ZTE, the fertilizer scam. I don’t want to go through the list, which is quite extensive,” he said.
Mrs. Aquino herself had a falling out with President Arroyo and repeatedly demanded that she step down after her administration had been accused of being involved in a string of scandals involving massive corruption and election fraud.
Until March last year, when Mrs. Aquino withdrew from public life after being diagnosed with colon cancer, she had been active in street protests denouncing widespread government corruption.
Apart from the corruption issues against the Arroyo administration, Noynoy has also been vocal in criticizing President Arroyo over her decision to pardon the killers of his father, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
Noynoy has criticized Mrs. Arroyo for her double-talk – “consistently” admiring Ninoy’s heroism but at the same time allowing the release of 13 of the 15 convicted murderers of his father.
“Through the years, Mrs. Arroyo has praised my father consistently. How does one reconcile her words of praise for my father as a champion of democracy and a victim of injustice with her action of freeing those who carried out the injustice? Is this the way to show reverence to a person she claims to admire and whom she wanted to emulate on the 25th year of his martyrdom? One day even this wrong will be righted,” Noynoy said in a statement last year when the family marked the 25th death anniversary of Ninoy.
Youngest daughter Kris, in an emotional interview with Boy Abunda in the afternoon show “The Buzz” aired from the La Salle Greenhills gym, said she was hurt when the government ordered the members of her mother’s security detail to return to their mother units, ostensibly “for accounting purposes.” All former presidents are accorded security details.
She said the escorts, Mel and Cris, always accompanied their mother to the hospital when she went for her check-ups, and when she had surgery. They were like family, and Kris revealed that Mrs. Aquino had even asked her eldest daughter Ballsy to make sure to take care of Mel and Cris when she was gone.
“A little respect. Don’t take away the security blanket of my mom. It really hurt me. Pag may impluwensya ka, pahirapan mo kalaban mo (When you’re I power, you make life difficult for your enemies),” she said.
Kris added that she decided to be the one to speak out about this so that her brother Noynoy would not have to bring this up, adding she has no political plans whatsoever.
Kris also said their family decided not to have state honors for their mother, saying all the honors have come from the people, so honors from Malacañang were unnecessary.
She also recounted an incident when a Palace official, who had remained friends with the faily, offered a state funeral for her mother and lying-in-state in Malacañang. The official told them that the Palace faces a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation, since not offering state honors would be bad, and offering it but being rejected would also be bad.
Kris said she was very emotional when she told the official it was not her problem anymore, and her only concern was her mother
JPE no plans yet to go to wake
Meanwhile, a staff member of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said there are no clear plans yet if he will attend Aquino’s wake or funeral.
Enrile was tagged in a number of coup attempts against the Aquino government.
Enrile’s office, however, issued a statement on Mrs. Aquino’s death.
“On behalf of the Philippine Senate and the members of my family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to the bereaved children of former President Corazon Aquino, especially to my colleague, Sen. Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III,” the Senate president said.
Enrile said the demise of President Aquino is not only a loss to her loved ones, but is also an immense loss to the entire nation.
“President Aquino’s contribution to the well-being of the country cannot be measured by mere words, structures and monuments for she has done much, much more. She played a key role in this nation’s struggle for freedom, and she has done noble service in the restoration of democracy in our society,” Enrile said.
“Although, by a twist of fate, we have had differences and disagreements in politics, I have always held President Aquino in high regard and great respect as a worthy leader of our people,” said Enrile, adding his family will continue to pray for her.
“As a Filipino, and as a former member of her Cabinet, I believe the nation owes her much, having sacrificed her life in the service of our people. She thus truly deserves the prayers, respect, admiration and appreciation of the Filipino people,” Enrile said. – By Christina Mendez (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
*Get Paid for Referrals, No Selling, Free $100 Sign-up Bonus [click here]*
richman.sulit.com.ph - Saturday, May 15, 2010
2010 © Sulit.com.ph
Categories: Uncategorized Tags:
Note To God – Musical Video by Charice
*Get Paid for Referrals, No Selling, Free $100 Sign-up Bonus [click here]*
Categories: Uncategorized Tags:
Thousands line streets for Cory
Just like Ninoy's funeral in August 1983
MANILA -- An estimated crowd of 17,000 lined the whole length of Ayala Avenue in Makati City and thousands more viewed the funeral convoy of former President Corazon Aquino as she was brought to Manila Cathedral from La Salle Green Hills on Monday.
In scenes reminiscent of the 1986 People Power revolution that catapulted Aquino to the presidency, Makati employees threw confetti out of their office windows while the electronic ticker outside the Insular Life Building on Paseo de Roxas-Ayala Avenue flashed pictures of Aquino and the words “Paalam, Cory.”
Footage taken by ABS-CBN’s Sky Patrol showed the crowds flashing the “L” for Laban sign, which was popularized during Aquino’s presidential campaign in 1986. Others clapped and cheered as Aquino’s funeral convoy pulled in close near the Benigno Aquino monument on Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas.
Escorted by around 50 policemen, Aquino’s funeral convoy left De La Salle Greenhills Gym in Mandaluyong City around 11 a.m. enroute to the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros Monday.
Aquino’s coffin was loaded on a flatbed trailer, which was adorned with yellow and white flowers.
The presidential cortege passed through EDSA, then right on Ayala Avenue in Makati. It is expected to turn left on Buendia, then right on South Luzon Expressway. It will then turn left on President Quirino Avenue and right on Roxas Blvd., then finally right on Intramuros.
Supporters of the former president also showered the convoy with yellow confetti and released yellow balloons as it reached EDSA-Ayala Avenue.
Tarlac Bishop Florentino Sinese earlier celebrated Mass at the De La Salle Greenhills Gym before the convoy left.
In his homily, Sinese said Filipinos see in Cory “the best in each and everyone of us.”
“The more we praise her, the more we reveal that we too desire to be like her. May these stories continue to be told and better still may these stories unfold forever,” he said.
Sinese said critics of the former president often criticized her for always resorting to prayer in everything. “Prayer cannot be a last recourse but instead the first recourse in everything,” he said.
“Certainly, Cory Aquino was not perfect but her imperfections were never an excuse not to govern and rule wisely. As we pay tribute to our beloved former president may we not only heap praises on a dead person but instead let her lfe and virtues challenge us to strive to do even better. We all dream to have a better country. She did her share. We also must do our own share,” he said.
Sen. Mar Roxas, meanwhile, filed a resolution declaring January 25, the date of birth of former President Corazon Aquino, as “Cory Aquino Day.” For more Cory news, long on to: http://coryaquino.abs-cbnnews.com
Categories: Uncategorized Tags:
