"Aquino [Ninoy, not Cory] was walking around Metro Manila looking for a place to set the statues. He decided to first try Luneta. When he got there, Rizal descended from heaven and told Aquino to go try some place else since Luneta was occupied. Rizal argued that Aquino did not die in Luneta and that Luneta was his (Rizal’s) domain because he had been there for quite a while. Rizal suggested that [Aquino] try the place where he died. Aquino tried Ugarte Field next. There, he was met by Gen. Pio del Pilar who said the place was already occupied. In despair, Aquino finally tried the tarmac at the MIA, but was met by Galman’s spirit who told him, ‘Sorry, first come first serve’.

"When people started to think of Ninoy as a martyr to the Filipino cause, other people worried that they’d turned him into a hero. They said that he was given too much credit, that he was overrated. They questioned the importance of his two statues, which drew a lot of local and international publicity, and argued that other heroes had better claim to the places being considered as sites for installation."

Lopez then asks: "Who chooses our national heroes? Are there decrees or laws that proclaim them? What are the norms in determining national heroes? What about the subjective [personal, self-serving interests] factor? Nobody seems to really know.

"Before Aquino, no decree or law has yet proclaimed a national hero.

"Before Aquino, the high standard of heroism was protected from being smeared by politics and ulterior motives."

Heroes were made by people, the author continues. A prospect’s achievements are painstakingly, accurately documented by historians (not by powerful relatives). The conclusions are beyond reproach. These are passed on as a legacy of a nation.

"Even if a powerful ruler proclaims his cousin [or husband or best friend] as a national hero by decree of law, his cousin is not a hero in the hearts of the people, in the eyes of history, no matter how the ruler forces the issue. A hero emerges like a pimple—spontaneously, quite naturally…." Rises as cream, without anyone’s covert or overt help.

Heroism is evidenced by a lifetime of service to humanity, sacrifices and risk-taking for the good of the disenfranchised, the good of most; exemplary behavior and works, both demonstrated and potential. Scruples, love of country, protection of the masa, are among the virtues of a hero. The pushing, urging, and heavy-handed influence of a benefactor-ruler is devious. Political ambition, such as the reckless pursuit of the presidency, does not a hero make. Awareness of, but inaction against exploitation of the oppressed in his plantation, does not a hero make.

Cory Aquino’s family own one of the Philippines’ largest sugar plantations. John Cavanagh and Robin Broad who tour-researched the Philippines for a year for the Institute of Policy Studies (1988), wrote that they saw race horses in Cory’s plantations living and treated better than migrant workers. "Cory Aquino was ill-positioned to initiate the necessary land and other reforms…. Despite President Aquino’s good intentions, so-called development programs are victimized by old patterns of corruption, neglect, and bureaucracy." With pin-striked economic advisers in tow, Philippine President Corazon Aquino descends on the United States this week to drum up more investment and aid for her debt-ridden economy. So frequent have been such borrowing trips that cartoonists at Manila’s dailies have had a field day lampooning Cory carrying a begging bowl from one world capital to another."