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If elections were to be held today and Kris Aquino would run for President, I’m very sure — 100 percent sure! — that she would win by a landslide.
You see, if she could move the whole world to tears and win everybody’s heart with the emotion-laden farewell/thank-you speech she delivered yesterday morning at the requiem Mass for her mother, former Pres. Cory Aquino, at the Manila Cathedral, I’m sure that she could, without really trying, sway the people into giving her a resounding vote of confidence.
And besides, didn’t Tita Cory once tell her that Kris reminded her of her late husband, calling Kris “the female Ninoy Aquino?” No wonder Kris said that she’s Tita Cory’s favorite daughter even as she admitted having given her mom the most “headaches” which were outweighed by “the most joys” that Kris gave her.
Everybody (those who were at the Manila Cathedral and those at home watching the proceedings on TV) was titillated by the possibility of Kris’ running in the elections — the earliest being 2010 — when, toward the end of her speech, Kris, addressing her brother, Sen. Noynoy Aquino, said that it was the two of them on whose shoulders has fallen the task of continuing the legacy of their parents, later promising Noynoy to give him all the support he ever needed if he decided to run again.
But somewhere in her speech, Kris also mentioned that when somebody broached the idea of her running for a public office, Tita Cory cautioned her, “Kapag naging simple ka na” (Only if you become simple) — that is, like Tita Cory who shunned branded clothes and high living even if she could easily afford them.
Kris’ reply? “Mom, matagal pang mangyari ‘yon. It would take time bago ako maging simple.” Said in all candor. Very Kris Aquino.
Would it take a lifetime, the same time frame Kris said it would take her and her siblings “to be okay” after their mom’s death?
She had a confession to make, addressing Tita Cory: “I lied to you, Mom,” recalling that a few days before Tita Cory died at the Makati Med where she was confined for more than a month and died of the colon cancer she bravely fought for more than a year, Kris assured her that she and the rest of the family were okay.
“I lied. No, we’re not okay. It would take a lifetime for us to be okay.”
Saying she couldn’t imagine life without her mom, Kris would surely miss the little things that mean a lot.
“Wala nang magti-text sa akin ng ‘Congratulations!’ when my movies make money o kaya ‘I’m proud of you!’ everytime she watched my shows.”
Like most families, Kris and her siblings would also miss Tita Cory most during happy occasions. That’s when they would intensely feel Tita Cory’s not being there.
Now, could it be true that Tita Cory also, among other habilin, reminded Kris and her husband James Yap not to separate?
What actually happened was that Kris and James had a spat last Holy Week and Tita Cory, as usual, helped patch things up between them.
“My mom told James, ‘Be more patient with Kris.’ And she told me, ‘Be more humble’.”
“I lost my No. 1 supporter,” said James of his mom-in-law who would pray the Rosary for good luck before James’ every game.
James is leaving today for Tianjin, China, to join the Power 8 Team Pilipinas in the Asian Qualifier for the World Championship games. “Mom always reminded me na kapag naglaro ako, dapat ibigay ko ang lahat para sa bayan.”
The issue is not Caparas?
Here’s a reaction to Funfare’s item on Carlo J. Caparas, newly-named National Artists for Visual Arts and Film, the other day, from STAR contributor and Ateneo professor Jonathan Chua:
Dear Ricky,
I simply could not resist reacting to your column on Carlo J. Caparas. 
Caparas will have his supporters and critics, but the issue is not whether he deserves to be named National Artist. It is rather that the Palace effectively derailed the procedure in selecting National Artists, by declaring them winners who did not make it to the short list or who were not even nominated for the award and striking off others who were nominated and who were selected by the jurors after rigorous deliberation. Previous presidents have added a name or two to the list of winners, but no president has ever omitted somebody unanimously voted by the selection committee for the prize and added four other names. (There are, in fact, more Malacañang-appointed winners than juror-selected winners this time.)
Whether Caparas (or the other Malacañang appointees) ought to be declared National Artist is a matter that is open to debate (are “massacre movies” a marked advance in Philippine filmmaking?) and which perhaps should be debated upon (are our categories of art too limited?). Regardless of one’s position, however, the integrity of the National Artist award, the highest recognition a Filipino artist can aspire for, must be protected. And that means respecting the process by which the winners are selected. After all, an award is valid not because government officials, no matter their position, legitimate it, but only because the processes behind it are valid.
Thank you.
Respectfully,
Jonathan chua
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