Noy: Mom would be proud of Phl’s success

MANILA, Philippines - The late former President Corazon Aquino would have been proud to see the Philippines marking success after success if she were alive, her only son said during the commemoration of her 80th birthday yesterday.

In a message read by his cousin, Liberal Party senatorial candidate Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV during a wreath laying ceremony at the Cory Aquino monument in Manila, President Aquino said, “If my mother were alive, she would be happy to see the changes taking place today: a steadily growing economy, a government now truly dedicated to good governance and public service, and a citizenry filled with newfound optimism.”

But the Chief Executive said his mother “would also be the first to remind me that there is no room for complacency.”

“We cannot hope that the virtuous cycle we see at work now will sustain itself,” Aquino, who is in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, said in his message. 

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim led the wreath laying ceremony.

He was joined by Sonny Dominguez, a trustee of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation; Cesar Sarino, of the EDSA People Power Commission; former senator Heherson Alvarez; Rene Saguisag; Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin; Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson; Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino; and former congressman Teddy Boy Locsin.

Lim thanked the guests for their support and dedication to the late president, saying that most of them have shown gratitude to a revered national heroine, an icon of democracy, a God-fearing leader and a liberator of the country.

Meanwhile, Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday asked Filipinos to unite in protecting democracy in the country which was restored in 1986 by Cory.

In a message on the 80th birthday of the democracy icon, Binay said Filipinos must preserve democracy so that the next generation can still enjoy it.

“We are now commemorating the birth anniversary of the mother of Philippine democracy, President Cory Aquino. Let us all, as a Filipino nation, unite in protecting the freedom that we have,” he said.

Binay, who was the first appointee of Aquino when she took over the presidency after former strongman Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in 1986, had consistently recognized the democracy icon’s role in transforming him from a human rights lawyer to a politician. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Sandy Araneta