Forgiving AND Forgetting I

The 1st ever automated elections in the country has just been concluded and most of the winners have been proclaimed. Noynoy Aquino will be the next President of the Philippines.

He is the son of former President Corazon "Cory" Aquino,  who was a plain housewife until she was swept up into politics when her husband (and Noynoy's father) Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated in 1983 by the alleged order of then dicatator President Ferdinand Marcos.

Cory ran for president in the elections of 1986 and won despite rampant cheating. But Marcos overruled the election results and declared himself as the winner. The following turn of events led to millions of people flooding into the streets of EDSA in what would be known as People Power and overthrew President Marcos and his 20-year dictatorship and billions of $$$ of the country's money in their bank accounts.

Cory was proclaimed president. She had no political experience and the country suffered from the poor advice that was given by her Cabinet but still, it was she who was the reason the country was free from the dictator.

Fast forward to 2009 and 3 presidents later. People sick and tired of the corrupt government, Cory, living a private life but succumbing to colon cancer died in 2009. Suddenly the spark of unity that brought People Power and was long thought gone was rekindled. Thousands if not millions of people lined the several kilometers of roads from the church where her wake was held to the cemetery where she would be buried. The whole nation paid tribute to the lady who brought democracy back to the Philippines...

... and then these show of massive gratitude gave some people the idea to persuade Cory's son, Noynoy to run for president in the just concluded elections. He didn't want to nor did he plan to. But maybe the pressure was too much that he agreed to run for president.

Like his mother, it really appears that he has the Nation's best interests in heart. But like his mother he isn't really experienced (even if he already is a senator). Maybe if it was a dictator he was running against, his relative inexperience would not matter. But restoring the image of a democratic but corrupt government needs more than a good heart.

For the first time, there were presidential candidates who needed to change the country but the people used their hearts and not their minds.

Maybe we made the right deciscion, Maybe.