CRITIQUE

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Pasion, Ma. Isabel C.

12/09/2022

BSCE 2A – CEM

N0262 GE HIST

REACTION PAPER

A Part of the Speech of


Her Excellency Corazon C. Aquino

On September 18, 1986 - Corazon Aquino, the newly-elected President of the


Philippines during that time, conveyed a speech in the United States of America before the
joint session of the US Congress. An excerpt of the speech of Aquino comprises how she
strived for the opposition of dictatorship by the preceding administration which resulted to
various trials, especially the toil and suffering of her husband – Ninoy Aquino, and leading to
her perception on the revolution.

One of my reactions, contextually, is that I am inquisitive on why it has to be someone


else to write the speech. According to the readings before the written speech, Teddy Locsin,
Jr.- the speechwriter of Aquino, wrote the speech for her which makes me uncertain on how it
would totally reflect Aquino’s main discernment for the joint session. Does the content of the
speech portray the explicit words or idea that Aquino wanted to impart with the congress?

Upon reading the speech of Aquino, it is inevitable to recognize how declamatory the
speech is just by observing the construction of its statements and the selection of words.
Although the writing is only an excerpt, I could still hear the revolutionary voice of Aquino
behind the writing because of how it employed the words in describing her distress and suffrage
from the dictatorial government on her speech. The way she constructs her sentences
demonstrates a remarkable narrative of what had happened to her, her family, and to the people
who also inspired her to initiate the People Power Revolution. Moreover, the words she used
to situate her view and emotions created a more striking approach for her speech especially on
upbringing the thirst for freedom and democracy.

However, I also came into a realization that Aquino’s speech was based only on a single
point of view about the past events and about the preceding administration she’d been in
contrast to. She also didn’t contemplate the insight of the opposing side of the revolution thus
making the speech less likely to be multi-sided. She may had represented the whole country
for the session, but I think that the content was not really meant for all Filipinos since there are
people who still believe in the Marcos Administration and simply, don’t share similar insight
on the said revolution.

Despite Aquino’s efforts to convince herself as the clear opposite of Marcos, I have
also noticed that her speech still revealed certain parallelism between her and the Marcos’
government. That includes the continuation of the alliance between the Philippines and the
United States in spite of the rapport between Marcos and the United States.

After reading the speech, I have acquired a more in-depth understanding on the side of
Aquino during the EDSA Revolution which I believe, can be used to discern greater sources
for any further studies related to these previous governments. A part of me was also enlightened
by scrutinizing the two sides of the revolution before and after reading the speech of Aquino.

The speech provides a clear view on the part of Corazon Aquino before, during, and
after the iconic revolution that ended the dictatorial government of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. By
way of reading Aquino’s speech, it is visible that aside from sharing her desire for true freedom
and democracy, she also imparted the guiding principles and framework of the government she
embodied.

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