Passion Pride Family

Have Faith.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Take a step back, take a deep breath.

I wrote before: "Cherish the great moments that you had, believe that they were true and sincere, what you had will always be there. But remember to always learn."

Appreciate and take it to heart. Learn and have faith. We all move on.

Looking Back on a Prediction from the Oracle.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:51:00 +0000

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THE ORACLE SAYS IT'S BACK TO THE 90s KIDS.

The decade where in people, my generation, felt unstoppable.

The age of the SNES, where Super Mario was born, The Legend of Zelda began, Final Fantasy had it's first, and Castlevania did a Transylvania.

Photo taken from http://trendhunter.com

Photo taken from http://trendhunter.com

The music was and still is incredible. The evidence comes in the form of you still having your album of ULTRAELECTROMAGNETICPOP somewhere in a hidden stash or electronically converted to your ipod forever to be repeated. It was the decade when Rico Blanco and Bamboo still played on the same stage and Himala was playing loud enough that the whole neighborhood would feel it.

It was the decade when almost everyone had, or borrowed a Tamagochi and a Tetris. MIRC was WICKED and Eye Ball Meet Ups were AWESOME! (cue air guitar)

Photo taken from http://akihabaranews.com

Photo taken from http://mirc.com

We carried around our Trapper Keepers, strutted in our Dr. Marten's, and the "Haduken" evolved into "Finish Him!".

BMX, skate boards, inline skates, and wall climbing were labeled extreme sports and the X-Games began. We waited for and watched Doogie Howser M.D., Beavis and Butthead, and Ally McBeal.

In contrast, 2009 was an explosion of 80s color ways, patterns, beats, samples, and pop culture. We witnessed the death of Friendster, the decline of Multiply, and the rise and integration of social media platforms not only in our personal lives, but social media as a tool for relevance, community building, corporations and, for better or for worse, marketing and advertising.

Gen X + Y, with the Trail Blazers in my Politics and Relevance Twitter List at the Vanguard, practiced social consciousness that shined through the very bad and worst times of 2009.

One of the most recent black days of 2009 can be summed up with a tweet from @heyessa "The total count is 64. Remember, remember, the 23rd of November."

An 80s Hero and Revolutionary Icon falls and yet, is immortalized and emblazoned in the hearts of so many who remember and in the minds of the new recruits of the Yellow Army.

My prediction for 2010 is that it will surely bring change throughout the political and social landscape of the Philippines. With the upcoming elections and the looming boiling point, we are standing on the edge and on edge. whether it will be the catalyst that we hope and yearn for or the cleaver that splits our collective, nobody knows.

The ORACLE says the 80s will bleed and blend in with the 90s and will make a comeback full force. In fashion, music, events, trends, and everything pop culture.

Consciousness will step up to another level, everyone will be on a high. People will have a sense of resurrection, of being reborn. We will grasp at identities while searching for our own.

One thing I know. The upcoming year is the the time to build and rebuild. It will be the time to persevere and continue our vigilance. This is our generation, we are the hammers that will forge our legacy, we look beyond 2010.

And thus, I leave you with a 90s feel good VIDEO from OASIS: "Stand By Me, Nobody Knows, The Way It's Gonna Be."

STAND YOUR GROUND KID. WE STAY HUNGRY.

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Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

Eight ways to kill an idea: FLIRTing with the Crowds via Holy Kaw!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:26:00 +0000

via samiviitamaki.com

http://holykaw.alltop.com/8-ways-to-kill-an-idea-0

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Kevin Cabanban
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http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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Posted via web from kevinsteady

Filipino Voices: How the CBCP turned our Congressmen into Cowards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:58:00 +0000

“The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”
- Article 2, section 6 of the Philippine Constitution
“There must be no separation between God and Man. Without these conditions, the (RH) Bill if enacted into law will separate our nation from Almighty God.”
- CBCP President Angel Lagdameo

via filipinovoices.com

I agree! This is a must read! http://filipinovoices.com/how-the-cbcp-turned-our-congressmen-into-cowards

"As public servants, it’s not the Church, not the bishops, not even the Catholics they should be afraid of. It’s the Filipino citizens — regardless of religion — that our representatives should respect."

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Posted via web from kevinsteady

DIONISIA KNOWS...Watch it!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:56:00 +0000

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DIONISIA KNOWS...http://www.dionisiaknows.com

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Kevin Cabanban
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YouTube: GOODTIMES WITH BAMBOO 2 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:47:00 +0000

via youtube.com

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Kevin Cabanban
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Posted via web from kevinsteady

YouTube: GOODTIMES WITH BAMBOO 1 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:46:00 +0000

via youtube.com

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Kevin Cabanban
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Posted via web from kevinsteady

Fred Wilson, Founder, Union Square Ventures

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:26:00 +0000

"Entrepreneurs don't need degrees like lawyers and doctors do. They are credentialed by virtue of their track record."

via inc.com

-Fred Wilson, Founder, Union Square Ventures

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Kevin Cabanban
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http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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Posted via web from kevinsteady

The Best Decline Letter of All-Time: Edmund Wilson

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:02:00 +0000

via fourhourworkweek.com

Check out the article at http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/10/07/edmund-wilson-letter/

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Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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Posted via web from kevinsteady

Another Japanese Food adventure: JOHN and YOKO!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:21:00 +0000

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I haven't had my Japanese food fix in what seemed like forever so I decided to go back to JOHN and YOKO!

Armed with a hungry stomach, a tongue craving for Japanese food, and my constant foodie companion, we traveled to Makati to get our fix.

JOHN and YOKO is located at GREENBELT 5 and we arrived in the area just after the evening mass at the Greenbelt Chapel. The place was a bit full but we got seated without waiting.

Blue Iced Tea, Dalandan Flavor P108 refillable

We ordered our drinks, Blue Iced Tea which is Dalandan flavored Iced Tea. They have it in Red, Blue, and Green. Red is Raspberry I think and Green Kalamansi?

We Found Nemo P799

We were going through the menu when this platter caught the eye of my foodie companion. The We Found Nemo Platter consists of 3 orders of sashimi: Maguro, Shake, Kani and 3 orders of maki rolls: Vegas, Philadelphia, and Dynamite. Like I said, we haven't had any Japanese food in a while so we went for it!

The Maguro and Shake Sashimi did not disappoint! These are the items that can really make or break a Japanese meal for me. The platter is served with a sweet soy which I liked. I think they added pickled ginger to it. The Kani Sashimi is ok.

The Philadelphia and Dynamite Rolls are good! The only roll that we didn't especially like with the platter is the Vegas Roll. It's a cucumber roll with Chicken and a lot of cheese on top, nothing special.

Cold Soba Salad P358

I was craving for my Cold Soba noodles so we ordered the Cold Soba Salad! We had this before and it's still as good as the last time I had it, though not as cold as I would like it to be.

The order consists of Kani, Cucumber, Tamago, Tempura batter, green onions, seaweed, and nori on top of a bed of Cold Soba noodles already in it's sauce.

Cold Soba Salad after mixing

Total bill was at P1, 471.07 inclusive of 8% SC.

We didn't get to finish everything on the table. I think we would have been full from the We Found Nemo Platter alone! I should remind myself not to be "takaw tingin" next time and always consider my budget.

It was worth the trip and the money but I will keep it under P1, 000 or less next time :)

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

Don't forget to rate this post and leave your comments below! :)

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The Best Value for your Money Japanese Resto in the Metro! Well, in my opinion so far :)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:20:00 +0000

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For the longest time, I hadn't woken up early for a morning meeting.

It was a Monday, my alarm sounded...8:30AM. My meeting was at 11AM. I was thinking if I could get a few minutes more of sleep but decided against it to anticipate Monday traffic jams. Don't sneer! 11AM is really early for me considering my lifestyle!

We got to leave my place by 9:30AM and arrived at the venue with enough time to spare for a quick breakfast at Pancake House. The usual Country Breakfast for me, and Beef Tapa for my constant foodie companion.

It was a satisfying breakfast except for the hot tea. It wasn't worth finishing.

Off to the meeting! It had a very casual and friendly feel in a formal environment, it was good to catch up with Myke, who is now handling Marketing and Advertising for another commercial property. An hour and thirty minutes passed and we wrapped up, listed down our assignments and said our goodbyes.

Now I come to the main point of my story...sorry to keep you waiting...KIMONO KEN!

I was a SUSHI-YA patron since my college days and I thought that SUSHI-YA was the best value for money Japanese food chain in the Metro. They have Sashimi under P200, Maki under P200, and they have Bento Boxes under P250. Until...my first taste of KIMONO KEN.

I can't clearly remember when I first got introduced to KIMONO KEN, but the dining experience fully converted me.

Maguro Sashimi P175

Believe me, we've tried to scour the Metro for Value for Money Japanese restaurants, and we've gritted our teeth through horrible, horrible dining experiences. The Japanese restaurant at Power Plant Mall, ground or is it basement level? Trust me...don't try it.

Mount Fuji Roll P200 Spicy Tuna and Spicy Salmon Maki

I started with trying to find the best value Sashimi, and then moved on to the best value Cold Soba noodles, and then the best value Beef Teppan...but in the end, I reward and comfort myself with a great value for your money Japanese meal at KIMONO KEN.

Shake Sashimi P195

This was just a quick lunch, so we had only three items, Tuna and Salmon Sashimi and a Mount Fuji Roll. The Sashimi is always fresh, silky, and meaty. The roll is delicious. I got my Wasabi fix as well!

I'll post up more pictures when I get to go back for more. Total bill, P600.54 inclusive of VAT and SC.

If I want to stay under P500, we usually get the Tuna and Salmon Sashimi with Omu Curry Rice...I'm getting hungry again...

Sure you can splurge at a few high end Japanese restaurants or hotel buffets once in awhile, but at KIMONO KEN, you can go back almost four times a month without breaking the bank.

It's not that KIMONO KEN's prices differ so much from SUSHI-YA or OMAKASE, it's more of the consistency of each branch, the quality of the food, and the serving sizes as well. I've tried dining at their Tomas Morato,SM North Edsa, Podium, and Macapagal branches (I know I'm forgetting a couple more) and it's the same across the board. Add all these variables up with very decent pricing, you'll get the Best Value for your Money Japanese Resto in the Metro!

Still, SUSHI-YA comes at a close second for me. I'm sentimental like that.

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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Dear Mr. President by Pink

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:00:00 +0000

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I just saw a video on Facebook, E PLURIBUS UNUM: Noynoy Aquino produced by the Tromans Production. The video used Pink's Dear Mr. President but instead of Mr. President it is replaced with Mrs. President to put it into a Philippine context. Follow the link to watch E PLURIBUS UNUM http://ow.ly/ptm2

I included in this post the video of Pink with the Indigo Girls performing the song.

Music has an amazing way of transcending all boundaries and contexts. It was performed 2 years ago to paint a picture for the American people about their government with George W. Bush at the helm.

And now through E PLURIBUS UNUM http://ow.ly/ptm2 it's being used to deliver a point about our current Philippine government and to show us that we have a choice.

Dear Mr. President
Pinkk feat. the Indigo Girls

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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This is our Generation, this is our Legacy.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:02:00 +0000

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It is our time.

I am a state of mind, an aspiration, an ideology.
I am a concept that is made tangible to elicit a reaction, a response, a movement.
I am an abstract that is made real to inspire, to light fires, to feed your senses.
I am a value that is brought to life, to pry open your eyes and cure your apathy.

This is our generation, this is our legacy.

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

Don't forget to leave your comments below!

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LIHAM NI NINOY KAY NOYNOY

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:00:00 +0000

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Taken from www.juancountry.com

LIHAM NI NINOY KAY NOYNOY

August 25, 1973

Fort Bonifacio

11:30pm

Mr. Benigno S. Aquino III

P E R S O N A L

My dearest Son:

One of these days , when you have completed your studies I am sure you will have the opportunity to visit many countries. And in your travels you will witness a bullfight.

In Spanish bullfighting as you know, a man – the matador – is pitted against an angry bull.

The man goads the bull to extreme anger and madness. Then a moment comes when the bull, maddened, bleeding and covered with darts, feeling his last moment has come, stops rushing about and grimly turns his face on the man with the scarlet “muleta” and sword. The Spaniards call this “the moment of truth.” This is the climax of the bullfight.

This afternoon, I have arrived at my own moment of truth. After a lengthy conference with my lawyers, Senators Jovito R. Salonga and Lorenzo M. Tanada I made a very crucial and vital decision that will surely affect all our lives: mommie’s, your sisters’, yours and all our loved ones as well as mine.

I have decided not to participate in the proceedings of the Military Commission assigned to try the charges filed against me by the army prosecution staff. As you know, I’ve been charged with illegal possession of firearms, violation of RA 1700 otherwise known as the “Anti-Subversion Act” and murder.

You are still too young to grasp the full impact of my decision. Briefly: by not participating in the proceedings, I will not be represented by counsel, the prosecution will present its witnesses without any cross examinations, I will not put up any defense, I will remain passive and quiet through the entire trial and I will merely await the verdict. Inasmuch as it will be a completely one-sided affair, I suppose it is reasonable to expect the maximum penalty will be given to me. I expect to be sentenced to imprisonment the rest of my natural life, or possibly be sent to stand before a firing squad. By adopting the course of action I decided upon this afternoon, I have literally decided to walk into the very jaws of death.

You may ask: why did you do it?

Son, my decision is an act of conscience. It is an act of protest against the structures of injustice that have been imposed upon our hapless countrymen. Futile and puny, as it will surely appear to many, it is my last act of defiance against tyranny and dictatorship.

You are my only son. You carry my name and the name of my father. I have no material wealth to leave you. I never had time to make money while I was in the hire of our people.

For this I am very sorry. I had hopes of building a little nest egg for you. I bought a ranch in Masbate in the hope that after ten or fifteen years, the coconut trees I planted there would be yielding enough to assure you a modest but comfortable existence.

Unfortunately, I had to sell all our properties as I fought battle after political battle as a beleaguered member of the opposition. And after the last battle, I had more obligations than assets.

The only valuable asset I can bequeath to you now is the name you carry. I have tried my best during my years of public service to keep that name untarnished and respected, unmarked by sorry compromises for expediency. I now pass it on to you, as good, I pray, as when my father, your grandfather passed it on to me.

I prepared a statement which I intend to read before the military commission on Monday at the opening of my trial. I hope the commission members will be understanding and kind enough to allow me to read my statement into the record. This may well be my first and only participation in the entire proceedings.

In this statement, I said: Some people suggested that I beg for mercy from the present powers that be. Son, this I cannot do in conscience. I would rather die on my feet with honor, than live on bended knees in shame.

Your great grandfather, Gen. Servilliano Aquino was twice condemned to death by both the Spaniards and the American colonizers. Fortunately, he survived both by a twist of fate.

Your grandfather, my father was also imprisoned by the Americans because he loved his people more than the Americans who colonized us. He was finally vindicated. Our ancestors have shared the pains, the sorrows and the anguish of Mother Filipinas when she was in bondage.

It is a rare privilege for me to join the Motherland in the dark dungeon where she was led back by one of her own sons whom she lavished with love and glory.

I ended my statement thus: I have chosen to follow my conscience and accept the tyrant’s revenge.

It takes little effort to stop a tyrant. I have no doubt in the ultimate victory of right over wrong, of evil over good, in the awakening of the Filipino.

Forgive me for passing unto your young shoulders the great responsibility for our family. I trust you will love your mother and your sisters and lavish them with the care and protection I would have given them.

I was barely fifteen years old when my father died. His death was my most traumatic experience. I loved and hero-worshipped him so much, I wanted to join him in his grave when he passed away. But as in all sorrows, eventually they are washed away by the rains of time.

In the coming years, I hope you will study very hard so that you will have a solid foundation on which to build your future. I may no longer be around to give you my fatherly advice. I have asked many of your uncles to help you along should the need arise and I pray you will have the humility to drink from their fountain of experiences.

Look after your two younger sisters with understanding and affection. Viel and Krissy will need your umbrella of protection for a long time. Krissy is still very young and fate has been most unkind to both of us. Our parting came too soon. Please make up for me. Take care of her as I would have taken care of her with patience and warm affection.

Finally, stand by your mother as she stood beside me through the buffeting winds of crisis and uncertainties firm and resolute and uncowed. I pray to God, you inherit her indomitable spirit and her rare brand of silent courage.

I had hopes of introducing you to my friends, showing you the world and guide you through the maze of survival. I am afraid, you will now have to go it alone without your guide.

The only advice I can give you: Live with honor and follow your conscience.

There is no greater nation on earth than our Motherland. No greater people than our own. Serve them with all your heart, with all your might and with all your strength.

Son, the ball is now in your hands.

Lovingly,

Dad

Taken from www.juancountry.com

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

Don't forget to leave your comments below! :)

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SENATOR BENIGNO “NOYNOY” S. AQUINO III ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN PUBLIC SERVICE

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:03:00 +0000

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I've been hearing a lot of chatter over the world wide web about Noynoy Aquino's bid for the presidential post.

Does Noynoy have the political experience and credentials? What bills has he passed? Does Noynoy have enough support nationally to run an effective presidential campaign?

There are views that think he was pushed into his 09.09.09 declaration, that he is not a willing candidate, and for that why vote for someone who doesn't want to be the president in the first place? Others believe that his appeal can only be attributed to his iconic parents and that it would dissipate in the heat of a presidential run.

To put these Noynoy sentiments into one cohesive idea, let's take a tweet from Twitter: "That's how desperate we Pinoys are. Credentials takes a back seat over integrity and good character. If only we can have both."

Noynoy Aquino is our generation's catalyst. He is our rallying point. Indeed, he is the product of icons, can you blame him that? His mother as well was an unwilling candidate, but they both see what is at risk.

I am not desperate. I am hopeful. This is our generation, we are the hammers that will forge our legacy, we look beyond 2010.

It is our time.

This will be my mantra:
I am a state of mind, an aspiration, an ideology.
I am a concept that is made tangible to elicit a reaction, a response, a movement.
I am an abstract that is made real to inspire, to light fires, to feed your senses.
I am a value that is brought to life, to pry open your eyes and cure your apathy.

This is our generation, this is our legacy.

Information below provided by Mai Mislang. Thank you Mai!

SENATOR BENIGNO “NOYNOY” S. AQUINO III ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN PUBLIC SERVICE

Senator Noynoy Aquino is vigilant in his pursuit of truth, justice and freedom, the fundamental principles that make democracy work in this country that his parents had likewise fought hard to restore. His commitment to preserve, strengthen and continue their legacy is evident in his accomplishments.

I. Positions held
Chairman, Committee on Local Government
Co-chair, Committee on Justice and Human Rights

II. Committee Membership
• Accounts
• Economic Affairs
• Education, Arts and Culture
• Environment and Natural Resources
• Government Corporations and Public Enterprises
• Justice and Human Rights
• National Defense and Security
• Peace, Reunification and Reconciliation
• Public Works
• Trade and Commerce
• Urban Planning, Housing and Development
• Ways and Means
• Youth, Women and Family Relations

III. Senate Bills
Senate Bill No. 1370 – an act granting an annual productivity incentive to all workers in the private sector, establishing mechanisms for its implementation, and for other purposes

Senate Bill No. 1719 – an act limiting the re-appointment of presidential nominees by-passed by the Commission on Appointments (CA)

Senate Bill No. 1710 – an act banning the re-appointment of a regular member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) who has already served the full term

Senate Bill No. 2035 – an act requiring the regular maintenance and preservation of all public infrastructures, establishing mechanisms for its implementation and for other purposes

Senate Bill No. 2036 – an act increasing the penalties for non-compliance of the prescribed increases and adjustments in the wage rates of workers, amending for the purpose Republic Act No. 6727

Senate Bill 2159 – an act adopting the doctrine of superior responsibility to all actions involving military personnel, members of the Philippine National Police and other civilians involved in law enforcement

Senate Bill 2160 – an act amending Section 4 of RA 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act to further restrict exemptions to the requirement of public bidding

Senate Bill 2978 – an act amending the DILG Act to further clarify the relationship between local chief executives and their respective local police chiefs

Senate Bill 3121 – the Budget Impoundment Control Act, which seeks to strengthen legislative oversight over executive spending

IV. Senate Resolutions
Senate Resolution No. 190 – investigating the exercise and implementation of the powers of local chief executives under Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as the “Local Government Code of 1991” in relation to Republic Act 6975 known as the “Philippine National Police (PNP) Law”
and Republic Act 8551 known as “The PNP Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998”

Senate Resolution No. 205 – investigating the bomb explosion at the House of Representatives, condemning in the strongest possible terms the recent bombing at the House of Representatives, extending sympathies to the victims and calling on authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into this incident

Senate Resolution No. 229 – directing the appropriate Senate committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the circumstances leading to the arrest and ‘processing’ of journalists and media personalities after the Manila Peninsula standoff on 29 November 2007

V. Fiscalizer
The responsibilities of a senator go beyond the drafting of legislation or the creation of policies. As a true representative of the people, Senator Aquino has consistently voiced his concerns on several issues, drawing attention to the anomalies in our current administration.

2009 General Appropriations Act (GAA)
By vigorously examining the General Appropriations Act for 2009 submitted by the Executive, Senator Aquino was able to propose key amendments to the 2009 GAA that seek to tighten congressional oversight on the executive’s use of public funds.

Champion of Human Rights and People’s Participation
At the heart of all legislative and policy-making initiatives is the development and welfare of the people. Senator Aquino has sought the proper relocation of informal settlers and the delineation of authority of parties involved in demolitions such as the MMDA. The bill amending the UDHA is currently underway.

Through his privilege speeches, Senator Aquino has drawn attention to the plight of desaparecidos and victims of extra-judicial killings. He introduced substantial amendments to the Cooperative Code to make it more responsive to the needs of the marginalized sector for which the code was enacted. They are meant to strengthen the cooperative movement by providing for transparent measures for members and officers of cooperatives.

He is also part of the bicameral debates on the Anti-Torture Act.

Accountability to the People
Senator Aquino actively participated in the hearings that investigated a number of reported scandals involving the alleged misuse of public funds, such as the ZTE-NBN deal, the Euro Generals and the Fertilizer Fund scam. These hearings brought to light the need for increased transparency and accountability in the disbursal of taxpayers’ money.

Integrity of the Senate
The series of scandals that stain the reputation of our government has also challenged the Senate of the Philippines as an institution. The recent attempts to amend the Constitution, for instance, have compelled our Senators, including Senator Aquino, to firmly assert their defiant stand on this issue.

Energy Sector
Senator Aquino has been vigilant in the hearings regarding the sale of TRANSCO and PNOC-EDC. Much of his time and energy was spent on the EPIRA and TRANSCO amendments, questioning the sale of revenue-generating assets prior to the privatization of key government corporations. Senator Aquino sought clarification as to whether the sales of these assets were part of a long-term energy development plan or not to ensure that the long-term impact of losing these assets have been considered prior to their sales.

National Integrity
Senator Aquino voted “NO” to the controversial JPEPA because he believed that the Filipino people deserved a better negotiated and mutually beneficial treaty.

VI. Institution builder
Last but not least, Senator Aquino has dedicated his life in public service to strengthening our democratic institutions. Principal among these is his commitment to a genuine party system in the Philippines, as reflected in his membership in and strong commitment to the Liberal Party.

• Executive Vice President, December 18, 2007 to present
• Vice Chairman, March 17, 2006 to December 17, 2007
• Secretary General, 2004 to March 16, 2006
• Vice-Pres. for Luzon, 2002-2004
• Secretary General, 1999-2002
• Chairman of the Board, Central Luzon Congressional Caucus

VII. Accomplishments as three-term member of the House of
Representatives:

A. Positions held

Deputy Speaker, 13th Congress

B. Committee Membership

13th Congress
• Banks & Financial Intermediaries
• Energy
• Export Promotion
• Public Order & Safety

12th Congress
• Civil, Political & Human Rights
• Good Government
• Inter-Parliamentary Relations & Diplomacy
• Public Order & Security

11th Congress
• Agriculture
• Appropriations
• Banks & Financial Intermediaries
• Civil, Political & Human Rights (Vice-Chairman)
• Natural Resources
• Peoples’ Participation
• Public Order & Security
• Suffrage and Electoral Reforms
• Trade & Industry
• Transportation & Communications

C. Priority Bills
• House Bill No. 4251 – granting annual productivity incentives to all workers in the private sector

• House Bill No. 4397 – strengthening the regulatory power of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to effectively enforce consumer laws

• House Bill No. 4252 – increasing the penalties for non-compliance of the prescribed increases and adjustments in the wage rates of workers

• House Bill No. 3616 – extending the reglementary period for the educational qualification for PNP members

• House Bill No. 1842 – providing for the codification of criminal laws

D. Resolutions
• House Resolution No. 65 – inquiry in aid of legislation into the policies and processes of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in granting rate increases to electric utilities

• House Resolution No. 788 – creating a select Congressional
Oversight Committee on intelligence funds to check and study the use of intelligence funds by government agencies to ensure that funds allocated therefore are utilized for the purpose they are intended

E. Other legislation
a. Introduced an amendment in the General Appropriations Act requiring public bidding in the purchase of petroleum, oil and lubricant products for the Department of National Defense

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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Save Me...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:53:00 +0000

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Disappearing acts. A bad habit, something I picked up along the way.

When everything around you collapses, you run for cover.

I came to understand the reasons behind the solitude. A retreat from the real world into my world, trying to keep myself intact...

I haven't found the will to be...a better person, a better companion. I wish I could have been better, but I'm not. I am what I am.

Leave...save yourself and leave.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Sunburn
Fuel

The sky was dark this morning
Not a bird in the trees
And silence hung suspicious and anxious
Like a blanket covered scream

And you were gone
You were not there for me
And I cursed the sky and begged the sun to
Fall all over me
This life's not living, baby
Living ain't free
If I can't find my way back to me
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down

All my friends are searching
Quiet, desperately
Look into their eyes you'll see the faithless crying
Save me, save me, save me

And what are they to feel
And who are they to be
And what am I to do with, do with me, but let the sun
Fall all over me
This life's not living, baby
Living ain't free
If I can't find my way back to me
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down

Until my eyes cry out
'Til my head is free from doubt
'Til my lungs sigh right out
'Til I'm wiser

Let the sun
Fall all over me
This life's not living, baby
Living ain't free
If I can't find my way back to me
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down

___________________________________________________________________________________

Drawn Out
Dishwalla

so the lines are lost
on the smallest details
of the life that we tossed
pushed out over the rail

and the wounds run deep
through the one man so bad
he's fallen beneath
the touch of your hand

and its all drawn out
there's nothing inside
and nothing to hold
nothing to find
its wearing' me out
this feeling inside
I'm all drawn out

and the promise we break it
and the reasons we fake it
bring us farther apart
from the love that we make

as the poisonous time
leaves us gasping for air
we run for the past
but were already there

and its all drawn out
there's nothing inside
and nothing to hold
nothing to find
and its wearing me out
this feeling inside
and its all drawn out
its all drawn out
I'm all drawn out

___________________________________________________________________________________

Home
Dishwalla

I'm so sick and tired
of all these things
that drag me down
I've got no where to go

They say that life
is in these hands
you give everything
you give yourself away you give

You give and still you choke
and find yourself running for the door

come and take me
home

lead me to your door
take me where you are
lead me to your door
at least just for a while

its some kind of life
forever days
we're in the cold
unfamiliar way

so take this fear
and fade it out
it won't make me sad
cause I get sentimental lord

in other ways
and I don't want to let me down here anymore

so come and take me
home

lead me to your door
take me where you are
lead me to your door
and let me in
just let me in
and let me leave
just let me leave this world
come on now let me leave this world
at least just for a while

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A good meal for 2 under P500! Coral Garden!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:39:00 +0000

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Sunday afternoon, Me and the group were supposed to do our TV commercial shoot. We had food, water, other beverages, the crew...but alas, we didn't have all the elements in place. So, our director, Direk Edong, herded us all up, said a few words and called for a pack up.

Due to the disappointing turn of events, I needed good comfort food to salvage what was left of my day.

Me and my foodie buddy Toni were on the road, it was about time for dinner, and we were thinking of a restaurant to wash our worries away...and then it came to me, my mouth started to water at the mere mention of the name...CORAL GARDEN! So off to Libis we went!

Coral Garden brings me back to my college days where my good friend Mark would take a "break" (that's his term for cutting class) from his hectic college schedule and bring me along to eat at the original outlet in Banawe. He introduced me to what has become, ever since, one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the Metro.

Me and my foodie companion were kind of short on money to splurge on the big ticket items, but we just had enough to order the CORAL GARDEN favorites!

CORAL SOUP, P50 per cup

We ordered the Coral Soup to start. It is a hot and sour soup with egg, tofu, vegetables, and mushrooms. And in true Chinese restaurant style service, the soup came in less than 10 minutes. And the cups were empty in less than that.

CORAL FRIED RICE, P50 per cup

For our main course, we ordered a cup of Coral Fried Rice each and the Coral Chicken. Coral Fried Rice is basically Yang Chow Fried Rice with the addition of Chorizo! Coral Chicken is fried chicken with vegetables swimming in a savory brown gravy.

CORAL FRIED CHICKEN, 1/2 portion, P260

The fried rice is a great combination with the tender chicken and the deliciously savory gravy. The chorizo with the fried rice gives a nice sweet surprise to each spoonful you take in.

The branch in Libis has two floors. We ate at the ground floor, cozy, warm, and comfortable. The second floor can accommodate bigger groups, whole families, and parties. Service is fast and friendly enough.

Our meal for two was definitely value for money under P500. I think we will be back to try out the Fried Noodles with Crab Sauce, and the Beef in Oyster Sauce...mouthwatering indeed! I can't wait for my next CORAL GARDEN comfort food stop!

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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At Last! CHARLIE'S GRIND and GRILL! And my first ever food blog :)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:49:00 +0000

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So here it is! My very first food blog!

As i sit here writing and fulfilling one of my long overdue projects, biting into my leftover Philly Cheese Steak, (we ordered more than we can chew really but more on that later) I present to you...CHARLIE'S GRIND and GRILL!

I first came across this place from Anton Diaz's site www.ourawesomeplanet.com and by the way he reviewed the food, I knew we had to try it.

Located on West Capitol Drive, Brgy. Kapitolyo, Charlie's Grind and Grill is a quaint Burger and Cheese Steak joint, but let me tell you, there is nothing quaint or small about their food.

You choose from available items on their blackboard menu and order it all from their outside counter. We chose to have of course, the STARVING serving of the Philly Cheese Steak, Chili and Cheese Dog, and a an order of fries.

While eagerly awaiting for our orders to arrive, I set up our table with the available condiments.

We sat inside, fully air conditioned, well lit, and clean. Friendly wait staff were at the ready and on call.

Chili and Cheese Dog, Single Portion, P140

First to arrive was our Chili and Cheese Dog served with roughly diced onions on the side. As you can see, I couldn't wait to dive in! If it wasn't for Toni who reminded me to take a picture of it first, I would've gone through the hot dog in a few minutes. And she did not hesitate as well in taking a picture of me taking a bite out of it!

The hot dog is juicy from end to end, chili and cheese is great, and I like that they served the raw onions on the side because I like to take my raw onions in just small doses.

Cheese Steak, Starving Portion, P390

Next up was the Starving serving of the Cheese Steak! The Cheese Steak is served with salsa and Jalapeños on the side! I love Jalapeños! The menu boasted of Triple A Batangas Beef so we were expecting the best. They did not disappoint and we were surprised as well at the size of the serving!

I could imagine that the Starving portion can feed at least 3 or at most 4 people! Topped with bell peppers, caramelized onions, and cheese sauce the sandwich is as good as I pictured it. And they did not skimp on the beef. That is a deep sandwich. Wonderful wonderful!

I only wish that they would finely chop the Jalapeños so you can evenly spread it across your sandwich and have Jalapeño bits with each bite. Maybe I can request that for next time.

Hand Cut Fries, P60

Of course, what's a Burger joint without the fries. Crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside, served with ketchup. A nice side dish to round out the meal!

Good thing we arrived a bit early, around 7pm, because by the time we finished at about 8pm, people were streaming in and almost all the tables were taken already.

Overall, it was a very good meal, and the best Philly Cheese Steak I've had so far. We've tried Elbert's Cheese Steaks at Rockwell. Charlie's Grind and Grill has a fuller and bigger serving at almost the same prices as Elbert's. Charlie's would be #1 in my book and Elbert's a close #2.

So, as I finish up writing this food blog entry, about to take my last perfect bite of my leftover Philly Cheese Steak with that last bit of Jalapeño, (which is still good by the way with all the juices already absorbed by the bread, drool, I want more) I would like to say cheers to Anton Diaz for giving me the inspiration to pursue this small project of mine and introducing me to the best Philly Cheese Steak in town!

Thank you to my constant foodie companion, Toni. We will definitely go back to try the Angus Beef Burger!

Until the next food trip!

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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From North to South...Travel Photos.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:54:00 +0000

Photographs taken from some of my travels around beautiful Philippines.

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Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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CORY! By WORD OF THE LOURD.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:59:00 +0000

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CORY! By WORD OF THE LOURD.

Another piece by Lourd de Veyra.

I was actually thinking about doing 10 minute episodes for my online shows, but after seeing the TV5 channel on YOUTUBE and their less than 5 minute episodes, I believe that their format will be better for the really really short attention span of online viewers.

Quick, to the point, concise, and sweet!

And taking an expression from good friend Mish, I would like to say "WYLD!".

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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WANG WANG ng INA MO! By WORD OF THE LOURD.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:16:00 +0000

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WANG WANG ng INA MO! By WORD OF THE LOURD.

This KICKS ASS! Getting your opinion across in less than 5 minutes! The beauty of online shows! Watch whenever and whatever you want!

TV5theeveningnews on YOUTUBE. I think almost all WOTL episodes are uploaded on the channel.

The tv5theeveningnews channel on YOUTUBE is very very interesting and I love the format of the shows. I hope I get to see more from these guys, I definitely clicked SUBSCRIBE!

If you want to take a peek at my subscriptions, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/passionpridefamily.

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

Don't forget to rate this post and leave your comments below! :)

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Teddy Locsin’s Eulogy for President Cory Aquino

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:42:00 +0000

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Teddy Locsin’s Eulogy for President Cory Aquino

Taken from http://jessicarulestheuniverse.com

Throughout thirteen years of martial law, until I laid eyes on her again, I never thought that I would ever see the end of it. Least of all that my father would survive it. I am not much given to prayer or pious reflection but when I could set aside my anger, I prayed my father would see democracy again.

Late one afternoon, in San Francisco, I got a call. It was from Cory Aquino, for whom I had written one speech after her husband’s assassination. She said she had accepted Marcos’s challenge in a Snap Presidential Election. I put down the phone, and packed my bags, and reported to her at the Cojuangco Building.

I knew then she was the answer to my prayers. What I did not notice was that the closer we came to victory, which is to say the farther the prospect receded that the Marcos regime would survive, the less I felt the anger inside me. As each day passed, bringing me closer to the day I could get even, the less I felt the need for it as I spent more time with the woman who alone could make it possible.

I did not notice, but I was no longer looking back in anger, or looking forward even, to victory and vindication. Only now do I see. I had lived with my anger so long, only for the day to come when it no longer mattered to me. The only thing that counted was that I was living every day to the fullest, bringing out the best in me—for someone else. A dream I hadn’t had since I was a boy, feeding on stories of chivalry, had been achieved. I was serving a woman who was every inch a sovereign, all the more for scorning the slightest pretension to the role.

I did not realize it, even when I was already in the Palace, by the side of the President—among all her advisers, I like to think, the one who loved her most.

It never again occurred to me that I had scores to settle. And not until today, that I had passed up every chance to get even.

From the moment I came in from the airport and reported for duty, and she gave me in return the same smile she gave me on her deathbed, I never noticed… Not when I was with her in the campaign when she corrected me for not looking at the people I was waving at… Nor when I was with her in the presidential limousine looking intently, for her benefit, at the crowds at whom I waved… I never noticed anything. Except that I was with the only person that I would ever want to be with.

I certainly never noticed that I had left my anger behind. I don’t know how it happened. Except that Cory Aquino ennobled everyone who came near her. I have tried to say it publicly but never could finish. If you saw me as I felt myself to be, anyone would fall in love with me. I saw myself in that hospital room, a knight at the bedside of his dying sovereign, on the eve of a new Crusade, oblivious to the weight of the armor on his shoulders for the weight of the grief in his heart.

And because she always doubted my ability to be good for very long… Indeed, when my wife told Ballsy that I prayed the rosary at Lourdes for her mother’s recovery, Cory said, “Teddy Boy prayed the rosary? A miracle! I feel better already.” Because she doubted my capacity for self-reformation, she made it effortless for me by being herself. I did not notice that I was doing right by serving a woman who never did wrong. I am not sure how to take this moral self-discovery. It is so unlike myself. But if it will bring me before her again, I am happy.

--END--

Here's to good food, fine wine, and great company!

Kevin Cabanban
kevincabanban@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/KevinSteady

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"Corazon Aquino is TIME's Woman of the Year for 1986."

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:17:00 +0000

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History lesson. Going back to 1986...Taken from http://www.time.com

Taken from www.time.com

History, wrote Gibbon, is little more than a "register of crimes, sorrows and misfortunes." It is, equally often, a study in black ironies or the fatal mechanisms of tragedy. Sometimes history is even a cautionary tale, an Aesopian fable on the folly of blindness or greed or lust. But history is rarely a fairy tale, a narrative that instructs as well as inspires. Still less often is it a morality play, in which the forces of corruption and redemption, of extravagance and modesty collide in perfect symmetry.

In 1986, however, as all the global village looked on, history turned into a clash of symbols in the Republic of the Philippines, a nation long relegated to its dustier corridors. There in the Southeast Asian archipelago of 56 million people and more than 7,000 islands, life not only imitated art but improved upon it. In a made-for-television drama watched by millions, two veteran rulers, President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, stumbled and fell in their ruthless campaign to extend, with an immodesty broader than a scriptwriter's fancy, their stolen empire.

During the final years of his "constitutional authoritarianism," Marcos had effectively moved his country backward -- from democracy to autocracy, from prosperity to poverty, from general peace to a widespread Communist insurgency. Treating the national treasury as if it were their personal checking account, the royal couple had looted their land of perhaps $5 billion. "Here in the Philippines," said Imelda, "we live in a paradise. There are no poor people as there are in other countries." Even as she spoke, seven in every ten Filipinos were living below the poverty level.

Taken from www.time.com

The sudden turn of fortune's wheel came when a confident Marcos, who had never lost a vote in his life, called a snap election. He was thus hoping to satisfy the Reagan Administration's demands that he become more democratic. But Marcos' plans for victory were upset by a slight, bespectacled mother of five, who had entered politics only two months earlier. When she went to fill out her application for the presidency, Corazon Aquino had nothing to enter under OCCUPATION but "Housewife." The last office for which the soft-spoken - widow had been chosen was valedictorian of her sixth-grade class. In fact, her chief, if not her only, political strengths seemed to be her innocence of politics and the moral symbolism of her name. In Spanish, her first name meant "heart"; in Philippine politics, her second signified "martyred opposition," in memory of her late husband Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino, once Marcos' chief rival, who was slain on his return from exile in 1983. Cory Aquino, at 53, stood in effect on a platform of faith, hope and charity.

The outcome of the allegorical battle seemed pre-scripted, if not predestined. Marcos, who had once been an effective and even popular ruler, in recent years had gradually proved brilliant enough to rewrite the rules and brutal enough to enforce them. On election day in February, in full view of more than 700 foreign journalists, Marcos' men ripped up ballots, bought others and intimidated voters at gunpoint. As many as 3 million names were simply struck off the voter lists.

Then, suddenly, the implausible began to happen. Thousands of volunteer poll watchers, singing hymns and burning candles, formed a human barricade against the armed goons and carried their ballot boxes through the streets to counting stations. Thirty of the government's vote tabulators walked out in protest against the fraud. The country's Catholic bishops publicly condemned the election, and the U.S. Senate echoed the protest.

Taken from www.time.com

Soon the implausible turned into the improbable. Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, the architect of Marcos' martial law, and Lieut. General Fidel Ramos, the deputy chief of the armed forces, broke away from the government, claiming that Aquino was the true winner. As the rebels barricaded themselves inside two military camps, first hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of common citizens poured into the streets to offer food, support and protection, if need be with their bodies, to the maverick soldiers and Aquino backers. As civilians, bearing only flags and flowers, took up positions to defend the military men, the world knew that it was watching more than just an electoral upheaval.

Finally, the improbable became the impossible. Marcos' tanks rolled toward the crowds, only to be stopped by nuns kneeling in their path, saying the rosary. Old women went up to gun-toting marines and disarmed them with motherly hugs. Little girls offered their flowers to hardened combat veterans. In the face of such quiet heroism, thousands of Marcos loyalists defected; many simply broke down in tears.

Less than 24 hours after Marcos had had himself inaugurated, he was being helped off a plane in Hawaii, sickly, exiled and bewildered. His former home, Malacanang Palace, was now a melancholy tableau of abandoned power, overrun by thousands of revelers. The new leader of the Philippines was the reserved housewife who had worn plain yellow dresses every day of her campaign. For her determination and courage in leading a democratic revolution that captured the world's imagination, Corazon Aquino is TIME's Woman of the Year for 1986.

Taken from www.time.com

Whatever else happens in her rule, Aquino has already given her country a bright, and inviolate, memory. More important, she has also resuscitated its sense of identity and pride. In the Philippines those luxuries are especially precious. Almost alone among the countries of Asia, it has never been steadied by an ancient culture; its sense of itself, and its potential, was further worn away by nearly four centuries of Spanish and American colonialism. The absence of a spirit of national unity has also made democracy elusive. Even Jose Rizal, a political reformer shot by the Spanish and a national hero, called the Filipinos "a people without a soul." Yet in February, for a few extraordinary moments, the people of the Philippines proved their bravery to the world, and to themselves.

Aquino's revolution with a human face was no less a triumph for women the world over. The person known as the "Mother of the Nation" managed to lead a revolt and rule a republic without ever relinquishing her buoyant calm or her gift for making politics and humanity companionable. In a nation dominated for decades by a militant brand of macho politics, she conquered with tranquillity and grace.

By reviving the promise of democracy without bloodshed, all too rare in the past, the Philippine revolution also held up a candle of hope in some of the world's darker corners. Moderate South Africans, for example, could take some heart from the success of civil disobedience; nor could they fail to note the victory of a woman who was once her jailed husband's ambassador to the world, much as Winnie Mandela works in the name of her imprisoned husband Nelson. In overthrowing Marcos, moreover, Aquino helped erase a whole volume of shibboleths. She showed that politics could be the art of the impossible; that force could speak softly and carry a small stick; that religion could be not % the opium but the stimulant of the masses; that nice guys, whatever their gender, sometimes finish first.

Taken from www.time.com

Aquino's triumph inspired many overhasty and wishful predictions of sequels in Chile, South Korea or Pakistan to the Philippines' "People Power." None of those countries, however, suffer under the conditions that ruled in the House of Marcos. Their economies are not in shambles, their corruption is far from exorbitant, their armies remain unshakably loyal to their military leaders. The U.S., moreover, has shown no sign of wishing to help push their strongmen out the door.

Yet the symbol remains. After watching the smiling shots seen 'round the world, no dictator can sleep quite so easily. And dissidents everywhere now have a stirring precedent and talisman to invoke. Says Congressman Stephen Solarz, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs: "I have found that from Poland to Pakistan and from South Korea to South Africa, those who are committed to democracy see in Aquino a sense of enduring inspiration. She is probably the most popular head of state in the world today."

Inevitably, the fairy-tale nature of Aquino's sudden ascension prompted some extravagant mythmaking. To some the woman in yellow seemed a Joan of Arc, a religious figure incarnating her people's hopes as she led them to freedom; to others she was a Cinderella, with one glass slipper instead of Imelda's 3,000 pairs of shoes. Indeed, as startling as it may seem in the secular West, millions of devout Filipinos viewed Aquino as a sort of Blessed Mother, a redeemer who came to resolve the passion play that had begun with her husband's death.

Taken from www.time.com

Yet the real world does not lend itself to fable for long. After the revolution comes the Realpolitik, and happy-ever-afters soon dissolve. The day after her victory, Aquino found herself in charge of one of the world's most desperate countries, saddled with a foreign debt of $27 billion, 20,000 armed Communist guerrillas and a pile of government institutions that bore her predecessors' monogram.

Soon enough the new leader's innocence and inexperience showed. She summarily dissolved parliament and, ruling by decree, had all the country's governors and mayors, regardless of performance, replaced with sometimes unqualified people of her own. She then switched to the other extreme, often dithering over critical decisions. Gradually, however, as the year wore on, Cory the Chief Executive and the Commander in Chief began to prove as surprising as Cory the Symbol. When challenges arose, the novice rose to meet them. While followers of Defense Minister Enrile unsettled Manila with constant threats of a coup, Aquino coolly went about her business. Then in late November, once she was absolutely sure of the military's support and confident of backing from Washington, she fired Enrile, the man who had helped put her in power. Four days later, she concluded the first cease-fire in the 17 years of the Communist insurgency.

At year's end, as the Philippines prepared for a nationwide plebiscite in February on a new constitution, Aquino remained decidedly embattled. Yet her authority seemed as steady as her gift for confounding expectations. To come to power, Aquino had only to be herself, a symbol of sincerity and honesty. But to stay in power, she had to transcend herself. After ten months in office, it was not just her softness that impressed, but the unexpected toughness that underwrote it; not just her idealism, but a steely pragmatism that made it more rigorous; not just her rhyme but her reason. Aquino moved people, in both senses of the word, by making serenity strong and strength serene.

Taken from www.time.com

If Aquino's stunning rise allowed the world a rare chance to suspend its disbelief and exult, 1986 also gave it many more familiar opportunities to distrust its leaders and to weep. Late in the year, the Reagan Administration was suddenly shaken by the disclosure that it had been covertly selling arms to Iran in an attempt to win freedom for American hostages in Lebanon. That dubious policy flared into scandal with the revelation that some of the money received for the arms had been diverted, apparently in violation of congressional laws, to the contra rebels in Nicaragua. As questions multiplied with a velocity that brought Watergate to mind, a backpedaling White House seemed guilty, at the very least, of high incompetence. At the center of the storm was a little-known National Security Council staff member, Lieut. Colonel Oliver North, whose mysterious doings, and the questions they raised, threatened to enmesh many higher officials in a growing web of intrigue and deceit. At stake was nothing less than the viability of President Reagan's final two years in office.

The crisis of faith in the White House only counterpointed a new air of confidence in the Kremlin. In 1986 Mikhail Gorbachev continued his brisk public relations offensive by sweeping the cobwebs out of his foreign service and introducing a little fresh air into the long-closed rooms of Soviet public life. In September he managed to trump Washington when the KGB released U.S. News & World Report Correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in exchange for a proven spy. Just two weeks later, Gorbachev again seemed to outmaneuver President Reagan at their unofficial summit in Iceland. The two leaders came closer than ever before to an agreement on nuclear arms, then ended up back where they started.

The U.S. fared little better in its long battle against terrorism. After the Administration launched an air raid on Muammar Gaddafi's Libya in April, the masked face of terrorism was mostly absent from the world's airports and alleyways. Five months later, though, the threat was back with a bloody vengeance. Bombs erupted in downtown Paris, men with machine guns stormed a synagogue in Istanbul, four Palestinian hijackers held a Pan American plane hostage for 18 hours in Karachi, and 17 more foreigners were kidnaped in Lebanon. Many leaders looked to another kind of pressure -- that of economic sanctions -- to push the white-dominated government in South Africa toward reform. But neither trade embargoes nor the pullout of Western firms seemed likely to douse the flames of racial violence. Indeed, last week the unrest continued, with sporadic clashes with government forces, protests against a state of emergency and "black Christmas" boycotts.

Taken from www.time.com

The shadows cast by other menacing forces also lengthened in 1986. The disease known as AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) claimed its 16,128th American life and left millions more rethinking their private lives. The epidemic of drugs became more sobering than ever, as the young turned to an addictive and unusually noxious boiled-down form of cocaine known as crack. One atomic nightmare came true and others were awakened when a Soviet atomic power reactor at Chernobyl, 80 miles north of Kiev, exploded and then kept burning for several days, a man-made disaster that could cause as many as 5,000 premature deaths by radiation-induced cancer. It was history's worst nuclear accident.

The abuse of technology also sabotaged one of the last vestiges of heaven- bent idealism -- the American space program -- when the space shuttle Challenger turned into a fireball only 73 seconds after takeoff. While millions watched on television, the craft and its seven passengers, including Schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, disappeared in a sad trail of smoke. The tragedy only deepened when a presidential commission found that the accident had been caused by bureaucratic mismanagement and neglect.

None of these events, though, were quite so startling, let alone uplifting, as Aquino's almost cheerful revolution. And if the first woman President of the Philippines was the happiest symbol in a year of symbols, she was also the most human. She showed how one individual could inspire in others a faith so powerful that it vindicated itself and changed a country's history. She brought not only a new face into politics, but also a new way of thinking about politics and the virtues it demands. The victory of "People Power" made no dents in the larger issues that tower like Stonehenge sentinels over the planet. It has not shifted the superpower equation nor reduced the threat of nuclear war. But it has, perhaps, affected the people who affect the issues.

Taken from www.time.com

Corazon Aquino's first, ever so hesitant entry into the larger-than-life melodrama of recent Philippine history came when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972. One of the first people to be arrested without charge was Ninoy Aquino, Marcos' closest rival. The tough but charismatic Aquino had in quick succession become the youngest mayor in Philippine history (at 22), the youngest governor (at 29) and the youngest Senator (at 34). He seemed likely to become the youngest President too, as soon as Marcos' second and final term ended in 1973. Before that could happen, Marcos threw him in jail.

As Ninoy languished in prison, his diffident and devout wife became his eyes, ears and voice in the outside world, acting as his liaison with what remained of the Philippine opposition. For seven years and seven months, spending hours alone with her husband in his cell, the upper-class matron received tutorials in opposition strategies from a master of the political arts. In between, she had to smuggle messages to and from him, sometimes on scraps of paper, sometimes in her head.

During the early weeks of martial law, recalls Cory, she could not watch television lest she see Marcos or her husband's official jailer, Defense Minister Enrile (the man who signed the arrest warrant was none other than General Ramos). In her conjugal visits, she had to share her husband with hidden cameras and bugs. Once, when Ninoy's guards simply removed him from sight for more than six weeks, Cory was forced to wander from prison to prison in search of him.

Taken from www.time.com

In 1980, however, Ninoy was released from confinement, and his wife from politics, when Marcos granted the ailing prisoner permission to travel to the U.S. for triple-bypass heart surgery. With a trumped-up death sentence over his head at home, Ninoy settled down after his operation in a red brick house in the affluent Boston suburb of Newton. There he returned to scheming for the overthrow of Marcos, while Cory resumed her favored routine of browsing through department stores, raising bonsai trees and relaxing over Falcon Crest and Dallas. Her American neighbors remember the President of the Philippines especially for her Peking duck.

The years in Boston were the most uneventful of Cory's adult life; she has also called them the happiest. In 1983, however, she had to look on stoically as her husband defied repeated warnings from Manila and decided to return to the Philippines to challenge Marcos, death sentence or no. Hardly had Ninoy's plane landed in Manila when he was met by a group of soldiers and hustled out of the plane. Seconds later, shots rang out, and Ninoy Aquino lay dead on the tarmac.

Ten days after the killing, up to 2 million people streamed into the streets in an unprecedented outpouring of sorrow and shock, transforming Aquino's funeral into the largest procession in the country's history. In the weeks and months that followed, street vendors and socialites, businessmen and radicals all awoke from years of resignation to cry out their rage. Yet the official opposition to Marcos remained fatally factious, divided into more than a dozen self-seeking groups, each of them tainted either by extremist positions, associations with the government or long years of failure.

Taken from www.time.com

It soon became obvious that the only person far enough above the political differences to unite the opposition was the martyr's widow. She was also, by no coincidence, the only one who did not seek the role. "I know my limitations," she said three months after the murder, "and I don't like politics. I was only involved because of my husband."

Still the pleas for her candidacy gained momentum. Finally, in October 1985, while delivering a lecture on "My Role as Wife, Mother and Single Parent" at a University of the Philippines sorority, Aquino conceded that she would stand for the presidency -- provided that Marcos called a snap election and that 1 million people petitioned her. The very next month, prodded by the & warnings of Senator Paul Laxalt, President Reagan's special emissary, that U.S. support for his regime was weakening, Marcos stunned even his advisers by announcing a snap election. One month later, Aquino was presented with her million signatures.

That unanswerable summons sent her into a soul-searching retreat (see box). By the time she emerged, she was a candidate. In order to unite the opposition forces, she swiftly approached Salvador Laurel, who was planning to lead his own ticket against Marcos, with a deal. She would give up her affiliation with her brother's party, Lakas Ng Bayan (LABAN), or People Power, if he would give up his candidacy and be her running mate. Her magic, his machine. After days of bartering, the makeshift pair finally filed their candidacy papers only 90 minutes before the midnight deadline.

On the campaign trail, it soon became clear that Aquino's main asset was, quite simply, herself. Turning her appearances into what amounted to improvised prayer rallies, the small figure in yellow stood before crowds, voice quavering, and delivered heartfelt parables about her life under Marcos. Wherever she spoke, tens of thousands of worshipers came together in a sea of yellow, flashing the L sign of LABAN, and striking up chants of "Co-ry! Co- ry! Co-ry!"

By voting day Aquino had become a powerful political presence. Only eight hours after the election, in the face of widespread cheating by Marcos forces, she seized the initiative by declaring herself the winner. When Philip Habib, Washington's troubleshooter-at-large, came to Manila to suggest a compromise with Marcos, she icily informed him that she would accept nothing less than Marcos' removal from office. "This is my message to Mr. Marcos and his puppets," she declared with quiet fury as the confusion dragged on, " 'Do not threaten Cory Aquino, because I am not alone.' "

As Enrile and Ramos staged their revolt in Manila, Cory, 350 miles away in Cebu, at first lay low in a Carmelite monastery. But as the revolution continued, she hurried back to Manila, ready to take charge. While her advisers collapsed in exhaustion around her suburban bungalow and a gunfight continued less than a block away, the President-elect serenely announced that she planned to take a shower and get changed. Then she had herself driven to her inauguration in her white Chevrolet van, stopping at every red light.

Demureness and determination; steel and silk. In Cory Aquino there has & always been the sense of a confidence so strong that it does not need to proclaim itself. Aquino knows where she stands and is sure of the foundations below her: her family and her faith.

Cory's natural air of authority and her sense of noblesse oblige were, in a way, her birthright as a child, the sixth of eight, of Jose and Demetria Cojuangco. After coming to the Philippines from Fujian province in China just three generations earlier, the Cojuangcos had quickly parlayed a small rice mill and a sugar mill into the richest empire in Tarlac province.

For all its wealth, however, the clan was known for an unostentatious reserve, and throughout her childhood, as ever after, Cory preferred to be overlooked. At a series of the country's most exclusive girls' convent schools she was remembered, when she was remembered at all, as a bright, devout girl and the perennial class valedictorian. In 1946, when her family left war-torn Manila for the U.S., the 13-year-old Filipina with bobbed hair enrolled in the Ravenhill Academy, a Catholic girls' school in Philadelphia, and later in the Notre Dame Convent school in New York City. Cory's four college years passed with scarcely a trace at the College of Mount St. Vincent, a small Catholic women's college in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The self-contained student occasionally entertained her classmates with Filipino dances but otherwise kept to herself, spending spare hours with an elder sister and returning home to the Philippines in the summers. Her classmates recall her only as a "shy little violet" who once played an angel in a college production of Green Pastures.

Aquino's upbringing was, in short, the classic, cloistered training in propriety that becomes a thoroughbred young lady of the upper classes. As a Cojuangco, however, she also grew up with as sharp a sense of power as, say, a Rockefeller heiress. For 13 years she was treasurer of the family corporation, Jose Cojuangco and Sons Inc.

Nor could she ever be oblivious to politics. Her father was a Congressman, her maternal grandfather a vice-presidential candidate, one uncle a Senator and another a Congressman. "Since she was a little girl, Cory has been accustomed to meeting the great personalities of the world," says Benjamin Brown, the former director of the fellows program that brought Ninoy to Harvard's Center for International Affairs. "She is comfortable and confident in those circles." Indeed, in 1954 when the well-bred young lady gave up her law studies at the Far Eastern University to marry Ninoy, the sponsor at the wedding was Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay.

If Cory is a singularly family-oriented person even for a family-oriented culture, she is also uncommonly devout even for a country that is 85% Catholic. And if Cory inspires faith, it is largely because she is inspired by it. Three of her closest advisers are Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila; Father Joaquin Bernas, president of the Jesuit Ateneo de Manila University; and Father Catalino Arevalo, another Jesuit, who is her spiritual adviser. Addressing the governors of the Asian Development Bank and 1,200 international delegates two months after coming to power, she frankly declared, "I am not embarrassed to tell you that I believe in miracles."

The absoluteness of that belief gives Aquino a firmness that can turn into stubbornness. Indeed, her very real sense that she is an instrument of God's will prompts friends and relatives to refer to her career, again and again, as a "mission." Says her mother-in-law and confidante, Dona Aurora Aquino: "I think this is a mission for her, to put her country in shape. Then she can retire. Ninoy's assassination was his fate. The presidency is hers." Cory often says the same thing.

Faith is also the basis of her fatalism. "If someone wishes to use a bazooka on me," she once said, "it's goodbye. If it's my time to die, I'll go." In the meantime, she exasperates her security men by acting as if she were protected by some invisible shield. Her sense of religion accounts too for Aquino's uncanny patience, her willingness, while awaiting what she regards as the appointed moment, to hold onto a burning match until it singes her fingers.

Yet her piety is very far from passivity. In 1984, returning to Mount St. Vincent College to collect an honorary degree, the mild, once bookish college girl surprised her former classmates with a forceful address. "Faith," she told them, "is not simply a patience which passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit which bears things -- with resignation, yes, but above all, with blazing serene hope."

That is the same quality noticed by Richard Kessler, a senior associate for U.S.-Philippines relations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "She's a very biblical type of person," he observes. "But it's not from a Hallmark card. It's saintliness as in the Old Testament. On the one hand, you pardon your enemies; on the other, it's an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

If Aquino's blaze of righteousness is partly responsible for her luminous, even numinous, magnetism, it also explains her unbending ruthlessness in applying an eye for an eye. "In some ways," says a close confidant, "she's an unforgiving person. She never forgets." When a former supporter, Homobono Adaza, went over to Enrile's camp, she not only stripped him of his $50,000-a-year position on the board of the San Miguel Corporation, a large state-controlled conglomerate, but replaced him with his archenemy Aquilino Pimentel. The flip side of her fidelity is inflexibility. "I have a long memory for people who have helped me," the President recently warned a group of subordinates, "but I have a longer memory for people who have stood in my way."

That air of discriminating toughness was hardened during her marriage, which was, as much as anything, a rhyming of opposites, a marriage of public and private. "She was a very supportive wife," recalls her mother-in-law Dona Aurora. "She was content to remain in the background. She did not meddle, she stayed at home." As it happened, she had little choice. "Let's face it," the President likes to say with a wry mixture of affection and realism, "my husband was the original male chauvinist."

Yet if Ninoy was the public center of the family, Cory was the moral backbone. "He decided that he would be the indulgent parent," she has written, "and I would be the disciplinarian." Often she extended that loving discipline even to her husband, telling him the difficult truths that his cronies preferred to hold back. "Cory was his highest conscience," says Harvard's Brown."He valued her judgments enormously."

In its way, indeed, the Aquino marriage seemed to play out in miniature the central dialectic of Cory's life between politics and faith. As a traditional Filipino flesh presser, Ninoy regarded all politics as dirty politics and was content to join the rough-and-tumble system in order to beat it. Cory, however, disapproved of such chicanery, and in deference to her, Ninoy and his friends never discussed skulduggery when she was present. "The minute she entered the room," says one close family friend, "people put on their best behavior. Even Ninoy behaved when Cory was around. I was nervous when Cory served the coffee. She can be very cutting, and she will cut you in public. She has a dismissive gesture of the hand to indicate that she's tired of the discussion or the person. It's very un-Filipino, and it has unsettled a lot of people."

Some problems, though, she could not wave away. Ninoy's free-spirited ways, could never have been easy on his young wife. Yet it seems that her husband's private life exercised her no more than his public one. Wherever he was, Ninoy turned his home into a kind of 24-hour coffee shop in which the loquacious host and his associates would thrash out tactics through the night, while Cory waited on them. The ceaseless bustle must have placed a considerable strain on the retiring patrician woman. "Cory is an introvert, Ninoy was an extrovert," says Ninoy's favorite sister, Lupita Aquino Kashiwahara. "He thrived on people. She doesn't need them."

Those who have known Cory Aquino as wife and hostess are hardly surprised by her quiet authority -- only by the suddenness with which she has steeled herself to her new role, transforming herself in 30 months from a self- effacing lady to a self-confident leader. Yet those who have just met her are often so disarmed by her softness that they overlook her ability to act with decisiveness.

The White House, to take one example, was markedly reluctant during the dying months of the Marcos era to accept the petite grandmother with a little girl's voice as a plausible leader of the country that houses the largest U.S. military installation abroad. Even after the election, a White House aide publicly complained, "How the State Department thinks that Aquino can govern on her own is just beyond us."

Since she came to power, however, Aquino has systematically gone about stilling many of those doubts. Before visiting her in Manila in May, U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz privately expressed doubts about her ability to govern. Afterward, and ever since, the normally poker-faced Secretary has fairly glowed at the very mention of Aquino's name. When Cory spoke before a joint session of Congress, she received the most thunderous reception given any foreign leader in more than a generation. Indeed, the entire U.S. tour, observed a State Department official who accompanied her, was "staggeringly successful. She had hard-bitten politicians eating out of her hand."

In her first ten months as President, Aquino has already begun to freshen up the office with an honesty and humility rarely seen in political circles. Before her U.S. visit, for example, she exasperated Philippine couturiers, accustomed to the imperial Imelda, by refusing to spend more than $40 on any dress. She still prefers not to be called "Madam," an honorific she feels was stained by the former First Lady. In many ways, in fact, she seems as open as before. Upon learning that a local journalist had won a grant to study in the U.S., the President stunned the woman by calling her up to offer her an old winter coat.

That unassuming style reflects a person with a very precise sense of herself and her limits. Aquino recognizes the vanity of vanity. "I've reached a point in life," she says, "where it's no longer necessary to try to impress. If they like me the way I am, that's good. If they don't, that's too bad." It is that same kind of detached self-possession that enables her, in the midst of pandemonium, to remain as composed as a sermon. "A single word of anger from her or any suggestion of violence ((at Ninoy's funeral)) could conceivably have overtaken Malacanang Palace," relates Emmanuel Pelaez, the Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. "But she was very scriptural. 'Vengeance is mine,' she must have said to herself."

Nor has the presidency yet smudged her sense of priorities. The eldest of Cory's four daughters, Maria Elena ("Ballsy") Cruz, 31, is still her private secretary, and her only son, Benigno III ("Noynoy"), 26, was one of her emissaries to the Communists. Aquino attends no more than three formal dinners a week, and the day on which the historic cease-fire with the Communists was signed found her marking what would have been her husband's 54th birthday with Cardinal Sin and her one-year-old grandson Justin Benigno. Being a grandmother, she says, makes her happier than being President.

With her moral -- even moralistic -- strictness, Aquino can at times treat even her Cabinet colleagues with the kind of affectionate sternness she lavishes on her children. She allows no smoking in her office, and she expects all the President's men to be prompt and tireless. Once she told Chief Speechwriter Teodoro Locsin to dress less like a gangster. The faint air of maternalism is heightened by her habit of referring to "my people," "my Cabinet," and even, most disconcertingly, "my generals."

For all that, however, Aquino's leadership of her Cabinet has often been uncertain. She manages by intuition, observers say, which is perhaps why her government remains somewhat disorderly. So far, says one minister very close to the President, "she gives herself a B. Her political instincts are superb, but she needs a better balance of close-in advisers. What she really needs is a chief of staff."

At the center of the confusion, and the controversy, are the human rights activists, whom Aquino admires for their idealism and especially for the faithfulness with which they stood by her husband during the dark days of martial law. Ninoy's lawyer Joker Arroyo is her executive secretary; Ninoy's cellmate Jose Diokno is chairman of the Presidential Commission on Human Rights; Ninoy's friend Locsin is her speechwriter. Many people feel that Aquino is too protective of these advisers and that they are too protective of her. The prime target of these charges is the principled but overworked Arroyo, who sometimes spends as much as six hours a day huddling with the President.

The conflict between personal loyalty and public policy becomes even more vexing when it comes to Aquino's own large family. If ever the President moves, as promised, to redistribute national wealth, she can hardly afford to overlook the wealth of the Cojuangcos. More troublesome still are the activities of her younger brother and close adviser Jose ("Peping"), who has been accused of reaping personal profits from two new casinos in Manila.

Having changed the rules of Philippine politics, moreover, the self- professed housewife often finds herself judged by the old rules. In restoring her country's freedoms, for example, she is content to go about her business while Marcos loyalists stir up trouble in the streets and Cabinet ministers speak their minds to the 26 daily newspapers in rumor-mad Manila. The resulting appearance of dissentious sound and fury is, she says, simply a sign of the government's self-confident strength: democracy in action. Others take it for weakness.

Likewise, her slowness to act while former Defense Minister Enrile was openly challenging her authority was widely seen as a symptom of her habit of praying and delaying. Yet her admirers point to the Enrile firing as an example of an inspired sense of timing. "She's an extraordinarily good judge of people and performance," says Republican Senator Richard Lugar, who led the U.S. team of observers at the February elections and returned to Manila in August. "She has instinctive feelings of loyalty and of who is pulling with her."

Certainly, her swift if belated stroke of decisiveness against Enrile dispelled in a single blow much of the turmoil that was unsettling Manila. And when she went on to ax four controversial ministers, while signing a cease- fire with the Communist rebels, Aquino pulled off a strategic coup of her own. Few could doubt that she had mastered the Napoleonic axiom that "justice means force as well as virtue."

That radical shake-up also succeeded in soothing, for the moment, some of the restiveness of the 250,000 men of the army. General Ramos, the head of the armed services, has declared himself repeatedly, in word and deed, to be fully behind the President. Nevertheless, as many as 6,000 young officers in the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), outraged at Enrile's ouster, may yet make trouble.

The military will stay quiet only if the President deals decisively with the Communist threat, which has spread to 64 of the country's 74 provinces. Few expect the present 60-day cease-fire to hold, and many hard-liners on both sides cannot wait for it to collapse. Aquino's unswerving Catholicism and her calm distaste for radical reforms make her highly unsympathetic to the Communist cause. Yet she is convinced that most of the rebels were driven to the hills not out of ideology but out of desperation, and can therefore be won back by negotiation. As the second stage of talks concluded last week, however, the guerrillas were still demanding a coalition government and the removal of U.S. bases, while the government was offering only a package of social and economic reforms, including "amnesty with honor." If the talks break down, Aquino has already warned that she will not hesitate to "take up the sword of war."

Perhaps the best weapon she could wield against the growing Communist threat would be an improved economy. As it is, her presence and her free enterprise policies have already restored a little business confidence. As capital outflow has all but halted, hard-currency reserves, down to only $200 million in February, are now back to $2 billion. Yet the economy is still in desperate shape and dependent upon outside aid, especially from the U.S. In Manila, more than one in every two people does not have a full-time job, and in the countryside, four children in every five are suffering from malnutrition. Real wages are no higher than in 1972, and the economy will have to sustain a robust 6% annual growth rate for six straight years just to get back to where it was in 1981. -

As she contemplates the enormous challenges before her, Aquino can take heart, perhaps, from her rare gift for surprise. Stalin is said to have claimed that "you can't make a revolution with silk gloves." Edward Bulwer- Lytton, the British 19th century novelist, believed that "revolutions are not made with rose water." And Oliver Wendell Holmes pronounced that "revolutions are not made by men in spectacles." In coming to power on a wing and a prayer, Aquino has already disproved them all.

Aquino has also begun to disprove the predictions of her husband, who used to say that whoever succeeded Marcos was "doomed to fail" because of the troubles the person would inherit. His wife ended up with that chaos, and burdened too with all the impossible expectations she had awakened. In addition, she enjoyed no transition period and no advance planning. To make matters worse, she has had to manage a three-party government made up of moderates, leftists and the military. "Given the mess she's inherited," says a senior Washington official, "I think she has been very successful."

Most of those who know Aquino well are even more confident that her iron will and her driving sense of duty will not allow her to give up. In a poem he gave her for her 41st birthday, Ninoy described his wife as "unruffled by trouble, undeterred by the burden, though heavy the load. Nothing is impossible . . ." His sister Lupita, whose relations with the President have sometimes been frosty, now speaks with the fervor of the converted. "I believe that she was born and raised for this role," she says. "After she spoke before the U.S. Congress, I said to myself, 'Ninoy, you can rest in peace. She is the President now."'

Taken from www.time.com

Yet perhaps the greatest danger before the reluctant leader is, finally, a private one. As she becomes ever more the President, she may become less and less the ordinary person -- attending PTA meetings, making pasta and praying with her children -- who captured her country in the first place. In growing more assertive, she may relinquish some of the gentleness that was her greatest strength. Ultimately, in mastering politics, she may have to let politics master her.

Clearly, that problem tears at her. Aquino worries when her friends tell her that she is too honest, and laments, "I don't want to be dishonest." She frets that she can no longer afford to be humble, and she misses the freedom to retreat into her family and her privacy. "I am torn," she said just before firing Enrile, "between acting like a President and like a human being."

Some might say that she has set herself an impossible task in trying to balance those roles, to season force with humanity and realism with faith. Yet if there is one thing that Aquino has already committed to the safekeeping of posterity, it is her gift for stretching the limits of the possible. Last year, the widow with the radiant smile managed to turn history into something of a fairy tale. If she can now bring something of the morality play even to a hardened political world, history itself, like most of the forces she has already met, may one day be quietly transformed.

--END--

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The Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:05:00 +0000

“…government is force, not reason.” - Ron Paul, The Revolution

Dissent

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:03:00 +0000

“In all affairs, it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.” - Bertrand Russell