Aquino condoles with FVR; still won’t quit smoking

MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino is not yet ready to quit smoking but promises to smoke only in private.

“Not at this time, not yet,” the President answered the Inquirer when asked if he was ready to quit smoking in an an interview Monday night at the wake for  musician and athlete Josephine “Jo” Ramos, a chain smoker who succumbed to lung cancer.

Jo was the second of five daughters of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

“Can it (smoking) induce stress?” he said when sought for comment on Ramos’ reminder to people not to smoke cigarettes, and for those who smoke to stop, citing the cause of Jo’s  death.

Told that he could suffer the same fate, Mr. Aquino said that it would not be right for him to pass judgment on Jo’s smoking habit as she could have been under stress and that might have been the reason she did not quit.

“Alam mo, lahat naman may tadhana (You know, we all have our own destiny),” he said, smiling. “Well, I try not to influence anybody (into smoking), and not in public as much as possible.”

The President quietly slipped into the wake through the back door of the Manila Memorial Chapel in Sucat, Parañaque, a little before 7 p.m. Monday and kept the Ramoses company for more than an hour.

Mr. Aquino said he and Ramos talked about many things, from family to politics, and from the Spratlys to the Marcos burial.

Ramos grinned when asked if he repeated his unsolicited advice to the President to stop smoking. “No, hindi ko binanggit. Itanong mo sa kanya (No, I did not mention that. You can ask him),” he told the Inquirer.

Aquino said he understood Ramos’ loss, having also lost his mother to cancer.

“I don’t feel right to comment on what Jo had to undergo. At this point… they have to undergo the same stress that we had to undergo then,” he said.

The President, who is four years younger than Jo, said he and the Ramos’ daughters were friends simply because the Ramos family succeeded the Aquino family in Malacañang when the term of his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, ended in 1992.

The President also exchanged banter with Ramos’ sister, former Sen. Leticia Ramos-Shahani, and other members of Ramos’ Cabinet  who greeted him.

Among those who went to the wake were Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., former national security adviser Jose Almonte, former presidential spokesperson Annabel Abaya, former presidential political adviser Gabby Claudio, former Presidential Management Staff chief Lenny de Jesus, former Tourism and Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan, retired and active military officers, congressmen and other key government officials.

Jo’s casket was covered in accordance with the Ramos family’s wish.

Ramos  was composed most of the time, displaying a sense of humor to some close friends, particularly retired soldiers and mediamen who came.

At one point, he “grabbed” a bald guest and said, “Halika pare, sasamahan kita sa beauty parlor; papaayos natin ang buhok mo (Come here friend, I will accompany you to a beauty parlor to have your hair fixed),” he said with a laugh, fondly rubbing the man’s head.

And before he went home, Ramos showed “how to campaign” by letting his head and body hang from the back window of his vehicle while waving at the cheering people.

When somebody shouted he might fall, Ramos shot back, “Hindi, pabayaan ninyo ako. O, hindi kaya ni Erap ito kasi laki tiyan (No, just let me. See, Erap can’t do this because he has a big belly),” he said laughing, referring to former President Joseph Estrada.

Almonte said he was impressed by Ramos’ fortitude in the face of personal tragedy.

“The way President Ramos is handling his personal tragedy, the fortitude he has demonstrated is something worth emulating. As a father myself and grandfather, if something like that happens to me, I don’t know …” Almonte said, shrugging his shoulder. “But of course, inside him,  nobody knows.”