Aquino’s Cabinet execs remember having a ‘Cory-pot’ boss

“We had for a boss Prez Cory-pot." Former presidential spokesperson Rene Saguisag still remembers this joke going around in the Palace during the first years of Corazon Aquino’s presidency. Taking off from an administration that was known for its greed, the housewife-turned-president displayed a kind of thriftiness that Saguisag found unusual for people like Mrs. Aquino who came from a family of landed elites.

“We would not dream of an expensive dinner with her," recalls Saguisag when he accompanied the former president in her foreign trips. In Mrs. Aquino’s first working visit to the United States from September 15 to 23, 1986, Saguisag, who was then over-all coordinator for the trip, says he could not remember the chief executive and her entourage accepting treats for lunch or dinner. “Siguro may nag-offer na businessman…pero walang tinanggap si President Cory. (Perhaps there were businessmen who offered treats but President Cory did not take them). I was coordinating the trip, I don’t remember accepting anything," Saguisag says, recalling that he himself only feasted on hot dogs being peddled on sidewalks when he went to the US in advance to arrange for the visit. No meals at posh restos He says Mrs. Aquino also did not see the need for her entourage to dine at posh restaurants during the nine-day visit. Saguisag says the meals provided to them by the White House in 1986 were more than enough to satisfy the appetite of the former president and her party. Thus, there was no need to shell out extra money for dining in other places. Saguisag recalls that during the September 17, 1986 luncheon prepared by the White House in honor of Mrs. Aquino, the entourage was served with the following: curried broccoli soup, sesame sweet twists, supreme of duckling a l’orange, wild rice with walnuts, baby zucchini provencale, coconut custard with fresh pineapple, and Carneros Creek Pinot Noir 153 wine. Solita Collas Monsod, Mrs. Aquino’s socio-economic planning secretary, confirmed Saguisag’s story. “In fact, we never went out together at all. Kanya-kanya kami (We were on our own) because I would have my own meetings with business people. We really wanted to maximize our time while in the US," recalls Monsod in her 1986 trip with the chief executive. Forgettable food Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr, Mrs. Aquino’s local government secretary, can’t also remember dining lavishly with the President in the latter’s trips in Europe. “I went with President Cory in her European state visits. There was nothing lavish in our meals. The food was forgettable," Pimentel says. Like Saguisag and Monsod’s experience in their US trip with the democracy icon, Pimentel recalls that meals served during official receptions in Europe “were more than enough to fill us up." He says that whenever somebody from Mrs. Aquino’s usually small entourage wanted to eat rice because European meals were served without the Filipino staple, “kanya-kanyang bili, amin ang gastos (we bought our own rice)." Prudent housewife Pimentel says that in those trips, government officials always had a “prudent housewife" as a companion. Mrs. Aquino continued practicing a homemaker’s frugal ways when she stepped down from office. Rather than using the government-issued Mercedes Benz, she rode in a much cheaper Toyota Crown after attending the 1992 inauguration of successor Fidel Ramos. At one time, when Kris Aquino’s son Joshua wanted to swim, his thrifty grandma did not hesitate to knock on the door of her neighbor on Times Street in Quezon City to ask if her grandson could use the pool. Last May, three months before her demise due to colon cancer, the 76-year-old Mrs. Aquino still managed to show the simple but loving ways of a homemaker. She prepared liver paté for her children, after her only son, Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino cajoled her into cooking his favorite dishes. "Iba pa rin ang luto ng ina (Nothing beats mother’s cooking). I will miss her other specialties, spaghetti meatballs and sukiyaki," says Noynoy. - Mark D. Merueñas, Amita O. Legaspi and ARCS, GMANews.TV