CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Liberal Party’s presidential standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s sister said here yesterday she believed Divine Providence has put in place the presidential fate of her brother.
“I sincerely believe that the Lord is with us in our fight, and I believe that He will see us through,” said Ma. Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz in her speech after receiving in behalf of her mother, the late Pres. Corazon Aquino, the “Luman Humanitatis” University Medal of Honor from the University of the Assumption (UA) here, Asia’s only Archdiocesan university.
University president and San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto stressed “there is no politics” in the award bestowed on the late president. He described the award as the first as well as the highest that could be bestowed by his university.
But in an interview with local media after the awarding rites, Cruz, who is the second eldest child of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr, and the former president, said “I really feel Divine hand (in the candidacy of his brother).
“Like my mother, Noy also did not seek the presidency. It was because of my mother’s death that people began to look for some symbol. Whey my mom was alive, some thought of her as their moral compass,” she said.
But after Mrs. Aquino died in August last year, many people felt they were deprived of a leader who would “stand out, speak out, and fight for democracy when it is at times threatened”, she noted.
This, she said, was how her brother Noynoy found himself suddenly running for president.
“Things that we never thought of fell into place. My mother died in August. If she had died in December or January, I suppose things would have turned out differently and Noynoy would not have become a candidate,” she said.
Cruz was alluding to August as also being the month when her father Ninoy, who is now a national hero, was assassinated on the tarmac of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“I believe in destiny. It’s like déjà vu of 1986 that I now feel. Things are falling in place despite our lack of organization and funds, people are helping us. I feel that God is with us,” she added.
Reacting to criticisms that his brother lacks qualifications to become president, Cruz said “there is really no school for presidents because only a few get to be president. That’s the same thing they said against my mother, that she was just a mere housewife.”
“People these days say that integrity is competency. Being honest is competency. This is the call of the times, and this is one outstanding asset of my brother,” she said.
Cruz also said she and her other siblings are determined to keep themselves out of the public life once their brother becomes president. “We were really against his running for president because he has remained a bachelor, so critics would target those closest to him, us. We have experience this already and we thought we had had enough, but we later decided this was a small price to pay for the sake of the country,” she said.
“I sincerely believe that the Lord is with us in our fight, and I believe that He will see us through,” said Ma. Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz in her speech after receiving in behalf of her mother, the late Pres. Corazon Aquino, the “Luman Humanitatis” University Medal of Honor from the University of the Assumption (UA) here, Asia’s only Archdiocesan university.
University president and San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto stressed “there is no politics” in the award bestowed on the late president. He described the award as the first as well as the highest that could be bestowed by his university.
But in an interview with local media after the awarding rites, Cruz, who is the second eldest child of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr, and the former president, said “I really feel Divine hand (in the candidacy of his brother).
“Like my mother, Noy also did not seek the presidency. It was because of my mother’s death that people began to look for some symbol. Whey my mom was alive, some thought of her as their moral compass,” she said.
But after Mrs. Aquino died in August last year, many people felt they were deprived of a leader who would “stand out, speak out, and fight for democracy when it is at times threatened”, she noted.
This, she said, was how her brother Noynoy found himself suddenly running for president.
“Things that we never thought of fell into place. My mother died in August. If she had died in December or January, I suppose things would have turned out differently and Noynoy would not have become a candidate,” she said.
Cruz was alluding to August as also being the month when her father Ninoy, who is now a national hero, was assassinated on the tarmac of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“I believe in destiny. It’s like déjà vu of 1986 that I now feel. Things are falling in place despite our lack of organization and funds, people are helping us. I feel that God is with us,” she added.
Reacting to criticisms that his brother lacks qualifications to become president, Cruz said “there is really no school for presidents because only a few get to be president. That’s the same thing they said against my mother, that she was just a mere housewife.”
“People these days say that integrity is competency. Being honest is competency. This is the call of the times, and this is one outstanding asset of my brother,” she said.
Cruz also said she and her other siblings are determined to keep themselves out of the public life once their brother becomes president. “We were really against his running for president because he has remained a bachelor, so critics would target those closest to him, us. We have experience this already and we thought we had had enough, but we later decided this was a small price to pay for the sake of the country,” she said.
