THE DAY NOYNOY AQUINO ALMOST DIED

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Author's Note: This article was originally published in the Philippine Catholic Veritas in its  May 16-30, 2014 issue. This article is for millennials, or those aged 15 to 35 years, many of whom hardly know our history.) 

TWENTY-SEVEN year old Benigno Simeon Aquino III, or Noynoy, did not know that the sixth of the seven military coups under the Cory Aquino administration was about to explode in the late evening of August 27, 1987.

Like any eligible bachelor of his age, Noynoy gallivanted and met many comely women. He was a proverbial free spirit, or man of the world, who saw the world winking at him. 

As the only son of the President, Noynoy wanted to enjoy his bachelor days before he could plunge into marriage, although it is something that has yet to happen.

As part of its standard operating procedure (SOP), the intelligence community fed state agencies, top officials, and concerned parties with information on movements involving right-wing political forces, which wanted to destabilize the restored democracy under President Cory Aquino or restore the kleptocratic rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his ilk.

Noynoy Aquino was no exception. Being the President's son, he received his share of intelligence information that a new coup was about to erupt. But he cavalierly dismissed it as one of those pestering things.

Noynoy Aquino did not have any idea that it would be bigger and bloodier than the previous five unsuccessful coups, which were initiated by the misguided military flunkeys of the fallen dictator, who was then in exile in Honolulu. Neither did he have any idea that it could nearly cost his life.

At almost midnight of August 27, 1987, the President's son left the presidential residence and Arlegui to go to the residence of a rumored girlfriend in Makati. He preferred to move at midnight to avoid public visibility and wicked traffic. Published reports said Aquino drove a white Mercedes Benz car with Joseph Galleta, a civilian aide.

Another security car with three men on board tailed his car. Sgt. Oscar Arevalo of the Philippine Constabulary, Sgt. Samuel Santos of the Philippine Marines and Airman Janayto Sunio of the Philippine Air Force were his security escorts.

At around midnight, Noynoy and his escorts were about to go back to the Arlegui residence, when Chito Roque, chair of the Task Force Gambling, radioed him asking to meet him at the Dasmarinas Village residence of Executive Secretary Joker Arroyo for some "consultations."

Noynoy acceded but not without driving through the sprawling Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.

At that time, the government owned Fort Bonifacio. Noynoy did not see noticeable movements inside the Army's camp, prompting him to believe that everything was normal and opted to go to Arroyo's residence.

Aquino met Joker Arroyo, Michael Roque, Metro Manila Commission and chair Jejomar Binay at Joker's residence. Binay promptly informed President about the ongoing coup. 

Jojo  Binay told the President's son that the military rebellion started at around 11 pm of August 27. Truckloads of soldiers , without any authority, left Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija and two other points en route to Manila. Bombs exploded in certain MMC offices.

Meanwhile, certain radio stations feverishly reported the troop movements. The radio station owned by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) sect called the blow-by-blow accounts as if it was the official mouthpiece of the coup. 

Binay broke its report to him about the outbreak of violence at the outskirts of Manila, prompting the President's son to leave for the Palace immediately.

As the only son, he felt obliged to protect his widowed mother and four unmarried sisters.

The military faction loyal to deposed Ferdinand Marcos, another military faction purportedly representing the reformist elements, and a faction of young military officers joined forces in Aug. 27, 1987 coup, making it the biggest and bloodiest in a series of six unsuccessful coups. The Dec. 1, 1989 coup, the seventh, was the biggest and costliest in all military coups under the Cory Aquino administration. 

Representing the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), Lt. Col. Gregorio Honasan, who was banished from his old post at the security office of the then Ministry of National Defense and reassigned to Fort Magsaysay to train soldiers, openly led the coup, which was participated mostly by heavily armed units of the Army and Marines .

The Aug. 27, 1987 military rebellion happened even as the newly restored democracy was on its way to demolish the Marcos autocratic structures and replant its democratic traditions and institutions in the country.

The process to restore democracy was happening too fast. The people overwhelmingly approved the 1987 Constitution in Feb. 7 referendum, replacing the temporary 1986 Freedom Constitution and the 1973 Constitution, which Marcos used as the constitutional basis of his dictatorial rule.

The just concluded May 10, 1987 elections led to the reestablishment of a new Congress composed of duly elected lawmakers to replace the rubber stamp Batasang Pambansa of Marcos. The two chambers of Congress were already holding regular sessions and tackling important pieces of legislation - all geared to strengthen democracy in the country.

In her first State of the Nation Address after Congress was reestablished, President Cory Aquino spoke glowingly of the various inroads her administration initiated to restore a functioning democracy in the country and dismantle the vestiges of authoritarianism.

But it did not sit well with several factions in the Armed Forces. They looked at the Cory Aquino administration as weak to institute political and economic reforms, sympathetic to the communist rebels, and repulsive to the military establishment, which Marcos pampered during his dictatorial rule.

The move of the Aquino government to restore democracy did not sit well with many military personnel, who saw their diminished roles. Besides, they felt the Cory Aquino government did not fully comprehend the necessity to institute reforms even within the defense and military establishment.  

They complained of low wages, poor facilities and lack of appropriate benefits.

The unauthorized troop movements that started from at least three points in Central Luzon did not escape the attention of top military officials and defense authorities. 

By the time the rebel soldiers arrived in Metro Manila, ample preparations were made ​​to thwart them. Pro-government forces had put up blocking forces and created blockades to slow down their movement.

AFP chief of staff Gen. Fidel Ramos and his team of military officials had instituted several measures to meet the challenges of military coups and other acts of rebellion in Metro Manila. The Capital Region Command (Capcom) was formed specifically as an anti-coup composite command.

Upon arrival at a little past midnight, the rebel soldiers had clashes with members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and other pro-government soldiers along Legarda - P. Casal area. Dozens of soldiers of both sides and innocent bystanders either died or got injured in those clashes.

At around 1:45 am, Noynoy and his escorts reached the Ayala Bridge area, which, by that time, teemed with many civilian onlookers. Sensing that they did not pose any danger, they proceeded to Malacanang.

They turned right to JP Laurel Street, but when they reached the gates of Malacanang beside the St. Jude Church, at least two squads of soldiers materialized to stop the two cars, and gave conflicting orders. 

Sensing they were pro-government soldiers, Benigno opened the car's window and introduced himself. But when he saw a nearby V-150 commando vehicle, he sensed danger.

Without any warning, a staccato of shots suddenly rang in the air. After that initial burst of gunfire, Noynoy felt blood oozing out of his neck and left hand. 

He suffered two gunshot wounds: one on between his nape and left ear and another on his left arm. Noynoy Aquino could only utter some prayers and that moment of trepidation.

More gunfire shots followed. His escorts - Sgt. Arevalo, Sgt. AIC Santos - were seen slumping on the next car. They all died. Noynoy Aquino went down in his car and urged those soldiers and to stop firing at them. 

He even thought it was a mistaken encounter.

Galleta knew better. He jumped at Noynoy, held him tight, and shielded him from danger. It was enough for the rebel soldiers to unleash the second burst of gunshots hitting Galleta five times. 

Galleta miraculously survived.

Using his VHF (very high frequency) radio, the President's son informed the PSG, about the incident. He told Air Force Capt. Jose Angel Honrado, who was detailed to secure Cory and her children, that rebel soldiers fired on them, hitting them all. It was around 2 am.

Riding in a military ambulance vehicle, Honrado and four PSG soldiers immediately went to Noynoy and his escorts. 

Surprisingly, the rebel soldiers, who were still in control of the area, hardly fired on them, apparently respecting the Red Cross signs on the Samaritan ambulance vehicle.

Upon learning the ambush on Noynoy's group, Col. Voltaire Gazmin, PSG head, dispatched a medical team with two nurses, who promptly gave first aid to the President's son and Galleta. 

They took them first to the PSG medical clinic. They later transferred them to the V. Luna Hospital, the military hospital in Quezon City.

Noynoy Aquino and Galleta recovered. Noynoy, until now, walks with a noticeable limp that veers to the left side. The bullet is still lodged in between his neck and ear. Somehow, it has affected his sense of balance.

But his near brush with death has steeled his inner core. Noynoy Aquino possesses a rare kind of focus and unbending commitment to do what he thinks is right. This is the reason he has been pursuing his anticorruption agenda without leftup.

The military rebellion failed. Many things happened after that fateful coup. Fidel Ramos became the next president, replacing Cory Aquino, whose term ended in 1992. Gregorio Honasan was cashiered from the military, went to prison, but recovered to become a senator.

Chito Roque faded into oblivion. Joker Arroyo, now deceased, was elected senator and retired from politics. Jose Angel Honrado is now the general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority, which runs the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. 

Noynoy Aquino is now the president of the country. Galleta became a bitter man, as he felt he did not gain much from gambling his life for the presidential son. He is reported to have estranged from him.