Today, we are the only people in modern Asia whose political dynamics were influenced and maneuvered by three fantastic women leaders, women whose savvy individualism left their footprints in our socio-political life.
From the mid-’60s up to 2012, our country underwent animated constituent experience with Imeldific as the creative nationalist, tita Cory as the democratic fundamentalist, and ate Glo as the crisis-driven economist.
Leyte lass
Imeldific (circa mid-’60s-1986) was a nondescript pretty-face lass from bucolic Olot in Leyte who morphed into a jet-setting First Lady clothed in fabulous terno. She labored to show the world that our country is not backward, nor third world, but a nation with a unique culture, educated people, world-class professionals and extremely talented artists.
Her frontispiece: Kasaysayan ng Lahi pageant, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney Foundation, Green Revolution, Metro Aide for urban beautification, and the various initiatives for social upliftment and livelihood, bright ideas emanating from the Ministry of Human Settlement.
Imeldific had license to do everything imaginable, courtesy of her husband, martial-law ruler Ferdinand Marcos. Imeldific’s mantra, the true, the good and the beautiful, fascinated her without end. After the downfall of martial law, her critics speak of her with contempt or rye humor.
Housewife
Tita Cory was the high born pedigree of Hacienda Luisita with a college degree from an Ivy League college in Boston. She was the unexpected deus ex machina in Philippine post-war social turbulence. The assassination of Ninoy Aquino, Cory’s husband and political arch-critic of the Marcos dictatorship, was the dastardly deed that magnified the injustice and cruelty of the regime. It generated a collective crisis of conscience and raw anger for change.
When a snap election was held, Cory, Ninoy’s widow, was the strategic choice to run against Marcos.
Push came to shove in the military when Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, Gen. Fidel Ramos, and the RAM military faction mutinied, sparking People Power (Edsa I) upon Cardinal Jaime Sin’s mobilization of religious orders and mainstream urban citizens. Edsa I toppled the Marcos martial law. Tita Cory became the duly elected President with a single-minded resolve: to restore the full apparatus of democracy, so that justice, freedom of speech and the rule of law can rebuild our country whose political system and social values were severely stunted by dictatorship.
Tita Cory’s tenure was bedeviled by seven big coup attempts, in fighting between rightist and leftist within the bureaucracy and a long series of power shortages that extremely inconvenienced home life, causing huge losses in revenues in business sectors. With a rosary in hand and a housewife’s instinct, tita Cory kept her tenacity on the restoration and protection of democratic institution. She ended her tenure with a peaceful transfer of power when Fidel Ramos was elected as President.
‘Hello, Garci’
Ate Glo is another deus ex machina President because Erap, the macho in Malacañang, blinked when a repeat of People Power (Edsa II) was triggered by the jueteng-gate scandal and his Boracay mansion in New Manila.
Ate Glo is the daughter of the late President Diosdado Macapagal. She’s no stranger to the intricacies and Machiavellian use of power. She thrived in the culture of patronage politics in her various roles as a government bureaucrat. As President, she promptly consolidated power by greasing the machines of ward politics made up of governors, representatives, mayors and local functionaries, whose support she needed during her “Hello Garci” impeachment process.
Ate Glo’s regime was bedeviled by a global financial meltdown, bubble bursts of global financial investment houses that sent shockwaves of instability and inflationary woes to consumers around the globe. Ate Glo’s oft repeated resolve, the strengthening of the country’s economic fundamentals, is deemed urgent and relevant. Her infrastructure projects are widely demonstrable; the nautical highway, ports and airports, the modern urban metro rail, the south and north SCTEX triangle that cuts travel time by half to fast-track the growth of industries, travel and tourism.
Because of the media hype on worsening poverty (no trickle down effect), unabated corruption and Cha-Cha machination plans, ate Glo suffers consistently from the lowest acceptance ratings in SWS surveys. The hype on her expensive dinner at Le Cirque in New York and her poker face at Cory Aquino’s wake further destroyed her already shattered image.
‘Woman thing’
The gender factor matters. The travails of women regimes can fluster us constituents. That “woman thing” could not unify the Imelda Marcos people (Ilocanos and Leytenos) and Cory Aquino’s freedom fans (middle class and mainstream-educated class).
Ate Glo was personally told by tita Cory to step down at the height of the “Hello Garci” tumult, but she refused to budge. Ah, basta! (the feminine way to end discussions) she’s staying put, period.
Imeldific, tita Cory and ate Glo are excellent multi-taskers, with wifey capabilities that enable them to do many things at the same time. Sen. Mar Roxas calls it micro-managing.
Imeldific holds the Guinness World Record for the most number of shoes collected. (My wife says shoes are accessories, not a fetish.) She remains unflappable, still sashaying around with her usual charm, people skills, always professing her admiration and love for the Filipino people.
The late tita Cory has been accorded the idolatry finale by a huge grieving throng during her elegiac funeral. She’s assured of immortality in the pantheon of heroes and she may yet be canonized as patron saint of democracy, if there’s such a thing.
Ate Glo is currently in hospital arrest for charges of electoral sabotage. Her future is jeopardized. Perhaps it’s Senate President Johnny Enrile, a grizzled politician, who’s got the best prophecy for ate Glo. “History will be kind to her,” he said.
E-mail the author at hgordonez@gmail.com.