(On Tuesday, June 24, the book ‘PNoy Filipino’ was launched during a memorial lecture at Ateneo de Manila University, on the date of the fourth death anniversary of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the 15th president of the Philippines (2010-2016). And now, one wonders, would PNoy, as the Filipino people and the world call Aquino with some familiarity, have allowed a book written about his administration, its accomplishments and its legacy?
No, perhaps not early on, nor towards the end of his administration nor right after it. We asked him then, and he wasn’t even keen on giving an answer, not wanting to call attention to himself. There were simply other, more prevalent, issues on his mind.
But yes—towards the last two years of his life. As he saw which way the country was going, he became open to the idea of having a book on his administration. His journey as servant-leader (our words, not his).
For PNoy was never one to trumpet what he had done. Governance was never about himself—but about the people and how it could uplift their lives. He must have been the only politician, as far as we know, who didn’t have the initiative to plaster his image on tarpaulins, on ambulances and everywhere. Hindi epal.
Two years after his death, presidential photographer Gil Nartea, casually called ‘tata Gil,’ revived his proposal to the Aquino family to publish photographs of PNoy taken by tata Gil during his term, in a modest-size coffeetable. The Ninoy & Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF) through its executive director, Kiko Aquino Dee, PNoy’s nephew, greenlit the project.
And thus started the stop-and-go shortlisting of hundreds and hundreds of photos by the team led by Kiko and composed of tata Gil himself, Nikko Dizon as project director/photo editor, myself as editorial director and writer to shape the content, Neil Agonoy as art director, Mica Magsanoc of the GenZ generation to serve as researcher/fact writer/proofreader, and from the Aquino office in Times Street, PNoy’s reliable staffer AJ Ardiente, who passed away while the book was in production, and later, Dave Fernandez to fill in AJ’s shoes.
In 2011, on his official visit to Japan, President Aquino with Japan Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko
The photographs were woven into a narrative formed out of excerpted commentaries by local and foreign experts on such various fields as economics, politics, foreign policy, media. The book became the story of a servant leader who proved that transformative governance could indeed work in a constitutional democracy. Under PNoy’s leadership, the Philippines became the Rising Tiger of Asia, the economy buoyed by confidence in his personal integrity and mandate that drew in record number of investors, received the best grade from major credit rating agencies, drove stock market record highs, lessened the burden of foreign debt servicing for the first time in contemporary Philippine history, surpassed poverty alleviation goals, reasserted the Philippine rights in the West Philippine Sea—among others. All this, while not curtailing freedoms and while protecting the Filipino’s constitutional rights.
PNoy kissing the hand of Pope Francis
All this, while staying decent.
Even we, who had known him for some time, were overwhelmed upon the discovery, each time, of the tasks he accomplished, albeit silently, and how hands-on he was.
Below we are running, with permission, the book’s Foreword by Kiko Aquino Dee.—Thelma Sioson San Juan)
(Copies of the coffeetable book, ‘PNoy Filipino,’ are not in the bookstores but are available upon filling out this donation form: https://forms.gle/7Rgd3BUxFqCP
Kiko Aquino Dee gives book proofs a last onceover.
Foreword by Kiko Aquino Dee
Humility in excess is a vice. It wasn’t for Tito Noy, though it did become a minor inconvenience for the team behind this book.
Tata Gil Nartea was one of Tito Noy’s close-in photographers during his presidency, who became a friend as well. As he, like many of us, tried to make sense of Tito Noy’s sudden passing, he came up with the idea for this book, to introduce the country and the world to the humble man behind the often understated achievements of the PNoy administration.
It was not an easy task.
Pete Sousza’s Obama: An Intimate Portrait was an initial inspiration, but Tata Gil and the rest of the team quickly realized that this book was a different beast. In President Obama’s case, the importance of documenting the United States’ first African-American President was rightly clear to both photographer and subject from day one. In contrast, one imagines that the bigger pressure on Tito Noy was not how history would remember him, but how he’d be able to live up to Lola Cory and Lolo Ninoy.
And so the team struggled with the question of how to make a photobook about a President for whom posterity was the farthest thing from his mind. What they had to work with were a lot of official photos with a few candid shots captured by the agile eyes of Tata Gil and of the other Palace photographers. The product is a different kind of art, a little more “guerilla”. I hope in particular that the Noy of the 1980s who fought the dictatorship on the streets, and the Noy of the 2000s who worked with people’s organizations in the opposition is pleased.
On the day of his inauguration, my dad jokingly yelled after parting ways with him—“See you in six years!” It turned out not to be a joke for me as I knew precious little about what went on in Tito Noy’s official life, in addition to my being remiss with pamangkin duties. As such, the work of Thelma Sioson San Juan, another friend and confidant of Tito Noy, to weave a single narrative through all of these photos has been vital, and I’m grateful to learn more about my Tito through her.
Our whole family wishes to thank the Palace photographers – Tata Gil, Ryan Lim, Benhur Arcayan, Jay Morales, Rey Baniquet, Joseph Vidal, Robert Viñas, Valerie Escalera, and Lauro Montillano – for capturing these beautiful images of Tito Noy that will keep his memory alive forever.
We would also like to thank the officials, staff, and Cabinet members of the PNoy administration, the journalists, columnists, opinion makers, and media institutions who kindly agreed to have their stories on Tito Noy’s presidency and leadership, as well as personal anecdotes, excerpted in this book, so that facts, context, and perspective lend flesh to the visual narrative.
AJ Ardiente also deserves a special mention in this book. All his life, AJ worked with Tito Noy, from being a college intern in Malacañang to joining Tito Noy’s IT team in the Palace, to being part of his private office in Times post-term, and staying with our family even after Tito Noy passed away. AJ had been tirelessly working with us on this book. I’d like to think that today, AJ is ably assisting Tito Noy with the wifi in heaven.
Tito Noy was a humble man. He was humble before the start of his presidential journey when he eulogized Lola Cory, “Nanay ko ang aking pinuno… Makinig ako sa kanya, at hindi ko pa ho siyang nakitang nagkamali.”
At his inauguration and throughout his term, he did the impossible and found a replacement for her when he said and committed to heart the words, “Kayo ang boss ko.” And in the epilogue of his presidency, when the arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone claims on the West Philippine Sea was announced, his second reaction, after first waiting to get all the facts straight, was to acknowledge everyone who made this victory possible—except himself.
Humility in excess is a vice. It wasn’t for Tito Noy because his humility never exceeded his drive to do well by his dad, his mom, and his bosses. May the story of this book challenge us to overcome our own humility to do the same.
‘PNoy Filipino’ book editorial team after the press work: from left, Nikko Dizon, Thelma Sioson San Juan, Mica Magsanoc, Kiko Aquino Dee, Neil Agonoy, Dave Fernandez, Gil Nartea
