End of the Aquino Dynasty if Bam is Not Elected

A pair of Chanel pearl drop earrings dangled from Kris Aquino's ears as she animatedly told reporters about her latest albeit indirect political endorsement.

Instead of the Aquinos' signature yellow campaign color, Kris donned a pink graphic tee bearing the face of her cousin Bam Aquino as she tapped her star power to help rally votes for the 41-year-old lawmaker.

It was a necessary boost: despite having a high-profile last name and a reputable track record, Bam continues to dangle in the bottom half of the winning circle in pre-election surveys.

"Kailangan tumayo ka para sa kapamilya o kadugo mo," said Kris, a celebrity and entrepreneur, noting that her lawyers reviewed her endorsement contracts to skirt provisions that prohibited her from directly campaigning for a candidate in the 2019 midterm polls.

(You have to stand up for your family and blood relatives.)

"We're all in this together... At the end of the day, bitbit ni Bam ang apelyido namin," said the "Crazy, Rich, Asians" actress, youngest daughter of the late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon Aquino.

(At the end of the day, Bam carries our family name.)

Bam, unlike other reelectionists who consistently top pre-election surveys, landed on the 11th to 16th bracket in Pulse Asia's March 23 to 27 survey. He attributed his survey performance to the "concerted effort" to bastardize the Aquinos, saying wielding the family name has always been a double-edged sword.

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"It goes all ways. May mga tao who will like me or vote for me because of things my relatives have done. That's a plus, tanggap mo 'yan. So, of course, kapag may negative, tanggap mo din dapat yan," he said in an earlier interview on ANC's Headstart.

(It goes all ways. There are people who will like me or vote for me because of things my relatives have done. That's a plus, you have to accept that. So, of course, if there are negatives, you have to accept those too.)

"Ganun talaga ang buhay (That's life). Even naman early on, there will be people who will support the Aquinos and there are people who won't. So, ever since, it's always an advantage and in some places, a disadvantage," he said.

Bam: Bearing Aquino name 'goes both ways'

The Aquino family is pulling out all the stops to help deliver a second Senate term for their bespectacled scion who has been delivering public speeches in pro-Cory rallies since he was around 10, Ramon Casiple told ABS-CBN News.

"That's the end of the Aquino dynasty if Bam is not elected at least on the national level," he said, of the senator who is currently the last with the fabled family name in national politics.

"Wala na sa pamilya nila ang politiko na viable at this moment. Lokal siguro meron pa, may mga pinsan diyan, pero national level [wala na]," he said.

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(There is no other in the family left who is viable to be a politician at the moment. At the local level, maybe they still have cousins, but at the national level there is no one left.)



Aquino's uncle, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., is considered a hero and martyr, slain in 1983 after his arrival at the airport upon return from exile in the United States. He was a staunch critic of the dictatorial regime of then strongman Ferdinand Marcos and earlier detained for criminal charges he said were "trumped up."

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His assassination inspired a groundswell of dissent to the dictatorship, culminating three years later in a peaceful revolt that installed his wife, Corazon Aquino, as president of a restored democracy.

In 2009, the death of the democracy icon, the country's first female president, prompted clamor for the presidential bid of her only son, then Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, the incumbent senator's cousin.



Bam's other uncle, Agapito "Butz" Aquino, and aunt Tessie Aquino-Oreta, also served in the Senate.

Other Aquinos have also served in the House of Representatives and local positions in their bailiwick Tarlac.

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Bam debuted as a national politician in 2013 when he first ran for the Senate under the "Team PNoy" slate named after his cousin, the then president.

Bam, whose full name is Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, is the fourth Benigno in the family, sharing the first name of his martyred uncle and his ex-president-cousin.



His Senate bid was his first for an electoral post, having been known previously for his work as head of the National Youth Commission, and then as a social entrepreneur.

A summa cum laude graduate in management engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University, Aquino hosted several television shows, including those centered on business, in the early 2000s.

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In 2008, five years before his foray into politics, he took up the Executive Education Program on Public Policy and Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard University in the US.

He succeeded in his 2013 bid, placing 7th overall with 15.5 million votes.



When Aquino's presidency ended in 2016, Bam became part of the Senate minority under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Others in the Team PNoy slate, now reelectionist Senators Grace Poe, Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel IV, Sonny Angara and Cynthia Villar, bolted to the majority bloc.

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Bam's 2019 bid is more difficult than his premiere in politics, said his nephew and election campaign representative Simon Aquino.

"Name recall played a big role noong (in) 2013 kasi (because of) the name, the advantage of the Aquino name," he said.

"Wherever we go, there was always that 'Aquino effect' because PNoy was the one handling him so it was relatively easier," he added, noting that the Aquino last name had not yet lost its luster in the previous midterm polls.

Otso Diretso candidates woo voters in Cebu with Vice President Leni Robredo. This is only the second time the opposition slate campaigned with all 8 candidates present. Their first complete-roster campaign was in Naga. (📷 from Otso Diretso) pic.twitter.com/PfGdBzm8Ws

— Kat Domingo (@_katrinadomingo) April 28, 2019

The slate takes pride in the competence of its candidates, most of whom have yet to occupy national positions in government. It's a stark contrast from his 2013 run when he campaigned alongside political titans equipped with their own war chests and machineries.

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"Ngayon, parang we're standing on our own. The network is still there pero may mga iba, with the biases, nahihirapan kami to tap them, may mga takot," Simon said.

(Now, it's like we're standing on our own. The network is still there but there are some, with the biases, who became harder to tap because of fear.)

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"Let's just say na mas marami [ang campaign funds] noon, definitely," Bam told ABS-CBN News in a separate interview on the sidelines of a sortie in Tondo, Manila.

(Let's just say that we had more campaign funds then, definitely.)

"Dito maraming poster dito pero sa buong Pilipinas, medyo dehado tayo. 'Yung mga giveaways kulang-kulang na din. May mga baller pa kami noon. It's just very different kapag wala ka sa administrasyon," he said.

(Here in Tondo, we have a lot of posters here, but we are at a disadvantage if we're talking about the entire Philippines. We're also short in giveaways this year. Before, we even had ballers. It's just very different when you are no longer with the administration.)

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"Kailangan mo makipag-compete. You have to raise funds. That's the reality sa ano mang kampaniya," he said.

(You have to compete. You have to raise funds. That's the reality in any campaign.)

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Source: ABS-CBN News