Aquino Yellows now Marcos’ activists

THE most shocking reality — sickening, really — that has emerged from recent tectonic political events, a revolutionary flow if I may call it, is that the political force of the Aquinos, arch enemies of dictator Marcos and viewed by many as the brains behind the assassination of Ninoy in 1983, have become Marcos Jr.’s defenders, together with the communists.

This became obvious when the Yellows quickly moved to defuse the momentum against Marcos that was spurred by revelations of massive corruption involving flood control programs, by immediately announcing their “Trillion-Peso March” at the EDSA Shrine the other day.

Its intention was to draw away outraged, nonpartisan Filipinos from the rally led by supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte, whose daughter Vice President Sara had for months been exposing the Marcos regime’s criminal abuse of the national budget.

“The rally is not intended to call for the impeachment or resignation of President Marcos Jr., but to demand accountability over the widespread corruption in government,” the Yellow rally’s spokesman, Kiko Aquino Dee, a grandson of Ninoy Aquino, emphasized in numerous media interviews.

The Yellows maintained tight control over the rally’s messaging, with not a single placard pointing to Marcos’ complicity in the worst case of corruption in the country’s history. There wasn’t a single placard echoing what has become the most popular battle cry in recent weeks: “Marcos, resign.”

Three main factors explain the Yellows’ capitulation to Marcos.

First, the Yellows have always seen the US as their patron, their “white brothers.” The US gave refuge to Ninoy Aquino, offering him the best medical services and financial assistance at the height of martial law. The US orchestrated “People Power” for Cory Aquino to ascend to the presidency and crushed anti-Cory coup attempts by the RAM military faction.

The most urgent US agenda in the Philippines is preventing Vice President Sara’s assumption of the presidency, as she would almost certainly pivot Philippine foreign policy away from US interests, resisting US attempts to make the country its proxy in its Cold War against China and its forward military base in the event of armed conflict. The Yellows share this American fear and view of China.

Second, if Sara is blocked from becoming president in 2028, and the fall of the Marcos clan becomes likely, the Yellows could field their own candidate — the name of Ninoy’s nephew, who resembles him, is circulating — to vie for the presidency. With their support at this crucial juncture, the Yellows hope Marcos will regard them as allies with whom he can strike a deal for the 2028 contest.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson is likely to use his prestige as Blue Ribbon Committee chairman cracking down on corruption as ammunition for a presidential bid. He has already shamelessly declared he “has Marcos’ back” in the President’s “crusade against corruption.” A realist, Lacson will likely see the Yellows’ financial clout as a compelling reason to ally with them.

Third, under the Marcos administration, the Yellows have received a remarkable opportunity to amass a fortune they could wield to recapture political power.

On April 25, 2025, the Court of Appeals Special Twelfth Division ordered the Land Bank and the Department of Agrarian Reform to pay the Cojuangco clan’s Hacienda Luisita a staggering P29 billion as compensation for putting their 4,500-hectare sugar plantation under agrarian reform in 1989.

That’s 150 times the P196 million figure that the Supreme Court under the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, and other agencies, fiercely believed should have been the compensation for the Cojuangcos’ land.

While the high court is independent, Marcos holds all the levers to have the decision implemented, blocked, or amended. The Land Bank and the agrarian reform department could accept the decision (neither have announced an intention to appeal) or undermine an appeal.

The P29 billion is by far the largest monetary award by any Philippine court, dwarfing the P5 billion award involving two Japanese firms ordered by the Supreme Court in 2020. It could easily launch the Cojuangco clan back to its pre-martial law oligarchic heights, especially if it allies with the other Yellow clan — the Lopezes of media giant ABS-CBN, who have partnered with the ousted House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s media enterprises.

The P29 billion could serve merely as equity to borrow five times that amount from the market, handing the Cojuangcos P145 billion in capital to build a new empire and allocate billions to fund their own party or buy politicians’ loyalty.

This is nothing short of ironic — and rather bizarre.

Two Cojuangcos became Philippine presidents in modern times — the late Corazon C. Aquino and her son Benigno Aquino III. This was the backbone of the Yellows, the sworn enemies of Marcos Sr., whom they believe had their political leader, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., assassinated in 1983.

Its patriarch was Cory Aquino’s brother, Jose Cojuangco Jr., who appears to have withdrawn from politics. The clan’s new political head is Ninoy’s nephew, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aguirre Aquino IV, who finished second in the last senatorial race.

If the Court of Appeals decision stands, and the Supreme Court does not reverse it, the clan will have the colossal resources to attempt to rule the country again, in both politics and business.

And it would, of course, have the backing of the US, which is desperate to keep the Philippines as its pawn in Southeast Asia — the last remaining one, in fact.

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Aquino Yellows now Marcos’ activists
Source: Breaking News PH