Cory said ‘Paalam’ in final SONA

Former President Corazon Aquino herself was being prodded to run for a second term as her stay in Malacañang was about to end.

It was explained to Aquino that the single-term limit did not apply to her since she did not come to power under the present Constitution that bars presidents from seeking reelection.

“But my answer was a categorical no,” Aquino remembers telling advisers in an essay in her book In the Name of Democracy and Prayer, an anthology of her selected speeches published in 1995.

“I had not been inaugurated under the present Constitution and it did not bind me in strict terms, but I had campaigned for it and therefore took upon myself the moral obligation to follow, if not its letter then its spirit, that a presidency must accomplish its goal within six years.”

Aquino then used her final State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 1991 as an opportunity to say goodbye to the nation aside from spelling out the achievements of her presidency that ended a dictatorship.

“My term is ending. And so is yours. As we came, so should we go,” Aquino first reminded her audience, made up mostly of her allies in Congress who were elected in the first free elections after the Marcos dictatorship.

Today, President Arroyo faces the same pressure from different sectors. She is being asked to also categorically say in her final SONA Monday afternoon that she will step down from power on June 30, 2010 and that she will not seek a post in Congress, purportedly to prepare her for the post of Prime Minister when the form of government is changed via Charter change (Cha-cha).

“My responsibility goes beyond my grave”

Many times more in her final SONA, Aquino signaled she would not seek term extension.

“This is the last time I shall address you on such an occasion as this,” Aquino said, “Let us clear the air between us.”

Aquino then went on to justify many of her administration’s controversial policies that drew criticisms, like honoring the foreign debt incurred by the Marcos administration and preferring to handpick delegates to the 1986 Constitutional Convention rather than have the people elect the framers that will write the post-Marcos Constitution.

Just as the Arroyo administration today is being charged of cheating in previous elections and preparing to cheat in the 2010 polls, Aquino also faced the same suspicion back then of planning to rig the 1992 elections.

Aquino made sure to address this concern in her final SONA.

As the commander-in-chief, she instructed then Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff Gen. Lisandro Abadia and Philippine National Police Director General Cesar Nazareno to make sure that the upcoming national and local elections be clean and fraud-free. “While they may not fear my displeasure because I will not be president then, they will face the judgment of the disappointed country.”

But Aquino said she would remain to be in touch with the national pulse in a line that would foretell Aquino’s engagement and active role in politics, even after her retirement from the presidency. “While my power as president ends in 1992, my responsibility as a Filipino for the well-being of my country goes beyond it to my grave.”

Aquino then explicitly laid out to the military and the police their limited role in the conduct of elections, reminding them to remain neutral and nonpartisan. “The right of the soldier and the policeman is merely to cast his vote; his greater and solemn obligation is to assure the right of others to cast their votes and get them honestly counted.”

Even after surviving seven coup attempts and gaining international honor, Aquino conceded she was indispensable. “Someone who do better may stand in this place next year, for I believe in the inexhaustible giftedness of the Filipino people. I only hope that he will be someone who will sincerely mean you well.”

Longest applause

The longest and hardest applause for Aquino in her final SONA was reserved towards the end. This was when she assured that she would hand power to her successor in the inauguration ceremony on June 30, 1992. “I shall be there with you to proudly witness the event. This is the glory of democracy, that its most solemn moment should be the peaceful transfer of power.”

Pausing only to give way to the audience’s applause, Aquino then wrapped up her final SONA that lasted forty minutes: “Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat at paalam,” The audience applauded vigorously.

Looking back, Aquino remembered getting many compliments after she delivered what she considered was her “farewell address.” Aquino wrote in her book, “But one comment stood out: ‘The people will really miss you.’”

Eighteen years later, President Aquino is hearing the same acknowledgment, judging by the yellow ribbons tied all over the town and the tributes dedicated by both friends and strangers as she faces pain and suffering.

Willard Cheng covers Congress for ABS-CBN News. Willard was only eight years old when President Aquino delivered her last SONA but remembers listening to it through radio as he went home from school (To Willard’s disappointment, SONA’s then were not declared holidays). For this piece, Willard reviewed Aquino’s final SONA from a VCD he bought from a museum. It also contains another of Aquino’s most memorable speeches, her 1986 address before the Joint Session of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C.