My personal encounters with Tita Cory

It must be the frustrated architect in me that gave me this fascination for grandness — grand structures: Buildings, mansions and residences. In the Philippines, what other residence could be grander than Malacañang?

Fortunately for me, I had access to this seat of power as a child because a godfather whose family also lived next door to us was the chief engineer of Malacañang. On a number of occasions, my parents would visit my ninong there and bring me along and I could have halo-halo. I also remember one summer when we spent Holy Week at the Mansion House in Baguio.

In time, our family moved to another neighborhood and we lost touch with my godfather. Malacañang apparently had undergone changes and even our new neighbor, the former Fenny Cantero (wife of former Sen. Francisco Tatad, Marcos’ former Information Secretary who eventually fought the dictatorship) related how she — on a rare visit to the Palace — was surprised to see disco floor lights in one area of Malacañang.

When Marcos was ousted from the Palace and Mrs. Corazon Aquino became president, I had another passport to Malacañang through Kris Aquino. The way I recall it, President Aquino initially didn’t want to live in the palace and that was so admirable of her because she wanted to keep things simple (also, why would she want to sleep in the bedroom that was once occupied by her husband’s arch enemy?). She was content staying at their old Times Street residence with her children. However, security problems — and probably even traffic — forced her to move to Malacañang, but not in the main grounds itself, but at the Guest House across.

The first time I went there was to interview Kris for her Christmas special. To my disappointment, President Cory wasn’t there. It was after one of those series of failed military uprisings and I thought the place looked like Lebanon with sandbags all over.

When Kris turned 18, instead of a lavish debut party with a cotillion, she opted for a simple dinner at home. The guests who came early were gathered at the Guest House living room and served drinks and snacks — cashew, almonds, shelled walnuts and the crispiest peanuts.

My right hand was busily digging into the bowl of mixed nuts when somebody told me: She’s right behind you. When I turned around, she was there in a red dress — with her hand extended to me. From my seat, I got up quickly but only after retrieving my hand from the bowl of mixed nuts so that I could give it to her — salt, grease and all. If she felt the granules and oil in my right hand, she never showed it — being the proper lady that she had always been. But I bet her hand became smoother than when she first came to the room after I gave her that instant salt sea scrub from the mixed nuts.

From the living room, we were ushered into the dining area for the dinner proper and I found myself practically seated in front of her. From her seat, where she could see me, she must have been thinking: “Eew, this is the guy who doesn’t even wash his hands!”

President Aquino and I hardly had any conversation during dinner, but at dessert time when they served fresh huge and sweet strawberries, she leaned over to tell me to try the fruits with whipped cream. Even then, before I became health conscious, I knew that whipped cream was filled with calories and didn’t want to touch it. But I wasn’t about to wait for her to issue an Executive Order before I obeyed the instructions from the country’s Commander-in-Chief at that time. And so I had my strawberries with whipped cream for the first time in my life. The combination tasted good — she was right, but I never tried it again because whipped cream is a no-no for weight-watchers and I don’t want to develop a taste for it.

The next time I saw Mrs. Aquino in person was when they had a private screening of Pido/Dida in Malacañang. On my way there, I was figuring out the scenario: Watching the movie with the president, were we supposed to laugh on cue?

No, President Aquino truly practiced democracy and we were free to express our views regarding her youngest daughter’s film. Of course, we also had to be polite. Opinions were reserved until we were out of the palace grounds and dutifully typed on our desktops (still no laptops then).

 Pido/Dida may not be one of my favorite local comedies, but in due fairness to Kris, she eventually evolved into a mature and sensitive actress in The Fatima Buen Story where she first earned her Gawad Urian Best Actress nomination. Later, she also received a series of acting trophies for Mano Po, where she plays a Chinese mestiza whose treasure is her family — a role very similar to what she is in real life.

I also had the chance to see President Aquino again at other functions outside of Malacañang, mostly at weddings where — as principal sponsor — she was always garbed in piña fabric. One thing you can say about her — she was never paranoid about her safety and security. You could come close to her and say hello and her security men do not treat you like criminals. In fact, it was only her PSG team that I never had a problem with. Maybe those were her instructions — be polite to the people who wanted to approach her.

After her term as president, she and her family returned to Times Street and since Kris was doing a movie for OctoArts, then promo head Aster Amoyo one time asked me accompany her to drop by the Aquino residence where we eventually had dinner.

In the middle of the meal, Mrs. Aquino arrived and though she wanted to join us at the table, she came from another dinner and was full. But how motherly she was to Krissy (Kris was always Krissy to her). She also made sure that we were okay and I thought for a while there how she was so like my mother who fussed over my siblings’ friends (I hardly brought home friends — I only had a few even then) when they came over to the house.

 Cory Aquino’s charm actually came from her simplicity. There was nothing ostentatious about her — in stark contrast to the extravagant lifestyle of her direct predecessor, Marcos and his family. But from that simplicity, we saw true elegance.

 President Corazon Aquino is gone and is sorely missed. Writing this, I feel fortunate that even for a few times I had the chance to meet in person one of the most important people in the history of this country and probably the world — and yes, the most beloved of our Philippine Presidents. Thank you Mrs. Aquino for giving us back our democracy. Thank you for the freedom, for the freedom for us to write as we please. But do guide us from up there and constantly remind us that with freedom comes responsibility. 

Rest, Tita Cory, you fought a hard fight and you fought well.