Professors dissect Cory legacy

Social scientists reviewed September 9 the late Corazon Aquino's presidency from their respective disciplines in “The Cory Aquino Leadership Forum” at the Claro M. Recto Hall.

Prof. Randolf David, sociology department chair, said the People Power Revolution was "unified not by what it stood for but by what it opposed."

Prof. David said the Aquino administration had to resolve four issues: foreign debt, agrarian reform, and the unsuccessful prosecution of Marcos' cronies, adding that the series of military coups made the Aquino government choose between "political consolidation or loyalty to the military."

David and political science professor Amado Mendoza discussed how Aquino ran the government.

Mendoza said her administration restored democracy and the restoration of the elite's property rights, adding that the excessive influence of the Catholic Church during her term extends to her death and funeral.

Prof. Michael Tan, anthropology department chair, discussed the significance of former President Aquino as a model of femininity in the country with the popular notion of Aquino as "Tita Cory," a symbol an aunt, who for Tan is warm but disciplinarian.

History professor Filomeno Aguilar from Ateneo de Manila University likened the Marcos administration to "the bad mother Spain."

Cory Aquino "is not only Ina ng Bayan, but also Inang Bayan," said Aguilar, adding that Aquino symbolizes the motherland whom Filipinos are willing to fight for.

Dean Emmanuel de Dios of the School of Economics was not able to make it to the event, which was sponsored by the UP Department of Political Science, Third World Studies Center, and the Philippine Political Science Association. ▪

Article by John Aldrich Telebrio