MANILA, Philippines — “Give the guy a break,” an emotional Kris Aquino said on Wednesday as she defended her brother, former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, from critics who continued to bash him.
“Lahat nung bira, lahat ng bato, lahat ng mga kasinungalingan — lahat niyan dinibdib niya na tahimik lang. But you are getting the sister na hindi tahimik. So sasabihin ko sa kanilang lahat: Kung hindi niyo siya tigilan, ako ang makakatapat ninyo,” the actress-host said in a program to commemorate the 36th death anniversary of their father, former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.
[All the attacks, all the stones thrown, all the lies — all of that he took silently. But you are getting the sister who is not silent. So I will tell all of them: If you won’t stop, you will have to face me.]
“So give the guy a break, because he did you no harm,” she added.
Kris admitted she was opposed to the fact that her brother never made public his achievements as President.
“Noy never trumpeted his achievements and I hated him for that,” she said.
“Kasi feeling ko: Don’t downplay yourself because you did a great job,” she went on. “And now wala tayong magamit. Hindi kita magawan ng videos to protect you because hindi mo sinabi sa mga tao point per point lahat ng nagawa mo.”
[My feeling was: Don’t downplay yourself because you did a great job. And now there’s nothing we can use. I can’t make videos to protect you because you never told people point per point everything that you did.]
“And what’s happening now? My brother is not here. He’s alone. He’s not well,” she said.
“Picture your life: You did a good job. Hindi ka nagnakaw, pero araw-araw lahat na ng bira, lahat na ng pagsisinungaling natanggap mo ‘yon. Nakita mo iyon, binabasa mo ‘yon. And yet you remained quiet, imagine how difficult that life is,” she added.
[Picture your life: You did a good job. You did not steal, but every day, all the attacks, all the lies you accepted. You saw them, you read them. And yet you remained quiet, imagine how difficult that life is.]
She then asked those who love and respect her brother to stand up for him.
“Kung mahal niyo siya, kung may nagawa siyang kabutihan para sa inyo, tumayo naman kayo para sa kanya,” Aquino said.
[If you love him, if he has done something good for you, please stand up for him.]
The former President’s youngest sister earlier said her brother was “not OK” which was why he was absent from their father’s death anniversary commemoration rites.
READ: Noynoy ‘not okay,’ skips ceremony for dad’s 36th death anniversary
“I am speaking on his behalf because he’s not here and he cannot stop me. He was a good man who did good work for our economy. He was a good man na hindi nagnakaw sa bayan and he was a good man who maintained humility,” she said.
“And pakiusap din sa lahat ng nandito: Nakaka-turn off po ang pagiging self-righteous kasi, di ba, lahat tayo, we all have sins. Let’s not cast those stones. Sinabi, di ba: The one who has no sin be the one to cast the first stone. So tayo, let’s be different,” she added.
[And my request to everyone here: It’s a turnoff to be self-righteous because all of us have sins, right? Let’s not cast those stone. As the saying goes: The one who has no sin be the one to cast the first stone. So let’s be different.]
Relatives, friends, and supporters clad in shades of yellow trooped to the late senator’s final resting place to commemorate his death.
The former senator was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983, at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport, which now carries his name, after returning from exile in the United States.
The Aquino patriarch was arrested and locked up for nearly eight years at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig during the martial law regime of then-President Ferdinand Marcos.
/atm