0:01 speaker of the house and the president
0:04 uh protm of the Senate and here we see Mrs
0:05 Mrs
0:09 aino she's accompanied by uh the
0:10 majority leader of the House of
0:13 Representatives uh Jim
0:16 Wright of Texas who is likely to be the
0:18 next speaker and other Congressional
0:20 leaders there's Senator Robert Dole
0:22 right behind her he's the majority
0:24 leader of the Senate and on his right is
0:26 the minority leader the Democratic
0:28 leader Robert bird of West Virginia
0:41 and you can hear the sustained and very enthusiastic
0:43 enthusiastic [Applause]
0:46 [Applause]
0:48 Applause this is much more than the
0:51 usual reaction that a that a uh a leader
0:52 would get coming into the [Applause]
0:54 [Applause]
0:56 chamber for many of them I think this
0:58 the first time they going to see m aino
1:01 in PR no question for the for the vast
1:03 majority of them and that is a real show
1:06 of emotion that you can see out there
1:08 and that's coming across the board
1:10 Democrats and Republicans liberals and
1:11 conservatives you can almost feel [Applause]
1:14 [Applause]
1:17 it now he'll the speaker will we'll
1:18 formally introduce her and then we'll
1:19 get another round of [Applause]
1:28 [Applause] applause
1:29 applause [Applause]
1:41 this about a long round of a loss
1:45 for president oh I think it's very very
1:47 important to to to stress that I've seen
1:49 a number of these where we've had
1:50 foreign leaders brought uh come before
1:53 the Congress and you'll get Applause
1:56 it's it's nice it's it's uh uh
1:59 appropriate and cord it's cordial this
2:01 is something far more than that and it's
2:02 meant to be a [Applause]
2:05 [Applause]
2:08 signal members will be
2:11 seated members of the Congress it is my
2:14 great privilege and I deem it a high
2:17 honor and personal privileged to present
2:18 to you Her
2:22 Excellency caroni aino president of the
2:58 [Applause] w
3:03 Mr
3:06 Speaker Senator
3:10 Thurman distinguished members of
3:14 Congress 3 years ago I left America in
3:19 grief to bury my husband Ninoy
3:22 Akino I thought I had left it
3:26 also to lay to rest his restless dream
3:28 of Philippine
3:32 Freedom today today I have returned as
3:53 people in burying noinoi a whole nation
3:57 honored him by that brave and selfless
4:02 act of giving honor a nation in shame
4:03 recovered its
4:07 own a country that had lost faith in its
4:11 future founded in a faithless and Brazen
4:12 Act of
4:17 murder so in giving we receive in losing
4:21 we find and out of defeat we snatched our
4:22 our
4:26 victory for the nation noinoi became the
4:29 pleasing sacrifice that answered their
4:31 prayers is for
4:35 freedom for myself and our children
4:38 noinoi was a loving husband and
4:43 father his loss three times in our lives
4:46 was always a deep and painful
4:50 one 14 years ago this month was the
4:52 first time we lost
4:56 him a president turned dictator and
5:00 traitor to his oath suspended the
5:03 Constitution and shut down the Congress
5:06 that was much like this one before which
5:08 I am honored to
5:11 speak he detained my husband along with
5:16 thousands of others Senators Publishers
5:18 and anyone who had spoken up for the
5:21 Democracy as its end Drew
5:25 near but for noinoi a long and cruel
5:27 ordeal was
5:31 reserved the dictator of already knew
5:34 that noinoi was not a body merely to be
5:37 imprisoned but a spirit he must
5:40 break for even as the dictatorship
5:44 demolished One By One The institutions of
5:45 of
5:48 democracy the press the Congress the
5:51 independence of the Judiciary the
5:54 protection of the Bill of Rights noinoi
5:58 kept their Spirit Alive in
6:00 himself the government sought to break
6:04 him by indignities and Terror they
6:06 locked him up in a tiny nearly airless
6:10 cell in a military camp in the north
6:13 they stripped him naked and held the
6:16 threat of a sudden midnight execution
6:18 over his
6:21 head lenoi held up manfully under all of
6:27 it I barely did as well for 43 days the
6:30 authorities would not tell me what had
6:31 happened to
6:34 him this was the first time my children
6:37 and I felt we had lost
6:40 him when that didn't work they put him
6:44 on trial for subversion murder and a
6:49 host of other crimes before a military
6:51 commission denoi challenged its
6:54 Authority and went on a
6:59 fast if he survived it then he felt God
7:01 in intended him for another
7:05 fate we had lost him again for nothing
7:08 would hold him back from his
7:11 determination to see his fast through to the
7:12 the
7:15 end he stopped only when it dawned on
7:18 him that the government would keep his
7:22 body alive after the fast had destroyed his
7:23 his
7:26 brain and so with barely any life in his
7:30 body he called off the fast on the 40th
7:34 Day God meant him for other things he
7:37 felt he did not know that an early death
7:40 would still be his fate that only the
7:42 timing was
7:46 wrong at any time during his long ordeal
7:49 noinoi Could Have Made A Separate Peace
7:51 with a dictatorship as so many of his
7:53 countrymen had
7:57 done but the spirit of democracy that
8:00 inheres in our race and animates this
8:04 chamber could not be allowed to die he
8:08 held out in the loneliness of his cell
8:11 and the frustration of Exile the
8:14 Democratic alternative to the insatiable
8:18 greed and Mindless cruelty of the right
8:21 and the purging Holocaust of the
8:25 left and then we lost him irrevocably
8:29 and more painfully than in the past the
8:31 new came to us in
8:35 Boston it had to be after the three
8:37 happiest years of our lives
8:41 together but his death was my country's
8:44 Resurrection in the courage and Faith by
8:47 which alone they could be free
8:51 again the dictator had called him a
8:55 nobody yet two million people threw
8:59 aside their paity and fear and escorted
9:01 him to his
9:05 grave and so began the revolution that
9:08 has brought me to democracy's most
9:13 famous home the Congress of the United [Applause]
9:30 States the task had fallen on my
9:33 shoulders to continue offering the
9:36 Democratic alternative to our
9:40 people archal Mich had said that
9:43 democracy must be defended by arms when
9:47 it is attacked by arms and by truth when
9:49 it is attacked by
9:53 lies he failed to say how it shall be
9:57 won I held fast to Nino's conviction
10:00 that it must be by the ways of the
10:03 democracy I held out for participation
10:06 in the 1984 election the dictatorship
10:10 called even if I knew it would be
10:13 rigged I was warned by the lawyers of
10:16 the opposition that I ran the grave risk
10:19 of legitimizing the foregone results of
10:23 elections that were clearly going to be
10:26 fraudulent but I was not fighting for
10:29 lawyers but for the people in whose
10:32 intelligence I had implicit
10:36 Faith by the exercise of democracy even
10:37 in a
10:40 dictatorship they would be prepared for
10:45 democracy when it came and then also it
10:47 was the only way I knew by which we
10:50 could measure our power even in the
10:53 terms dictated by the
10:56 dictatorship the people Vindicated me in
10:59 an election shamefully marked by
11:02 government thuggery and fraud the
11:05 opposition swept the elections garnering
11:09 a clear majority of the votes even if
11:11 they ended up thanks to a corrupt
11:14 Commission on elections with barely a
11:17 third of the seats in
11:20 Parliament now I knew our
11:23 power last year in an excess of
11:26 arrogance the dictatorship called for
11:29 its Doom in a snap election
11:31 the people
11:35 obliged with over a million signatures
11:37 they drafted me to challenge the
11:40 dictatorship and I
11:43 obliged the rest is the history that
11:46 dramatically unfolded on your television
11:49 screens and across the front pages of your
11:50 your
11:54 newspapers you saw a nation armed with
11:58 courage and integrity Stand Fast by
12:01 democracy a against threats and
12:04 Corruption you saw women pole Watchers
12:07 break out in tears as armed goons
12:10 crashed the polling places to steal the
12:14 ballots but just the same they tied
12:16 themselves to the ballot
12:20 boxes you saw a people so committed to
12:22 the ways of democracy that they were
12:25 prepared to give their lives for its pale
12:27 pale
12:30 imitation at the end of the day before
12:33 another wave of fraud could distort the
12:37 results I announce the people's
12:41 Victory many of you here today played a
12:44 part in changing the policy of your
12:46 country towards
12:48 ours we the
12:52 Filipinos thank each of you for what you
12:55 did for balancing America's strategic
12:59 interest against human concerns
13:02 illuminates the American Vision of the
13:04 world the
13:06 co-chairman of the United States
13:10 Observer team in his report to the president
13:11 president
13:15 said I was witnessed to an extraordinary
13:18 manifestation of democracy on the part
13:21 of the Filipino people the ultimate
13:24 result was the election of Mrs corason
13:28 Akino as president and Mr Salvador Lael
13:34 Philippines when a subservient
13:37 Parliament announced my opponent's
13:40 Victory the people then turned out in
13:43 the streets and proclaimed me the
13:47 president of all the people and true to
13:50 their word when a handful of military
13:54 leaders declared themselves against the
13:58 dictatorship the people rallied to their
14:01 protection surely the people take care
14:05 of their own it is on that faith and the
14:14 presidency as I came to power
14:18 peacefully so shall I keep it that is my
14:22 contract with my people and my
14:50 he had willed that the blood drawn with
14:54 a lash shall not in my country be paid
14:58 by blood drawn by the sword but by the
15:01 tearful Joy of
15:03 reconciliation we have Swept Away
15:07 absolute power by a limited Revolution
15:11 that respected the life and freedom of every
15:12 every
15:16 Filipino now we are restoring full constitutional
15:17 constitutional
15:21 government again as we restore democracy
15:22 by the ways of
15:26 democracy so are we completing the
15:28 Constitutional structures of our new
15:32 democ ocracy under a constitution that
15:35 already gives full respect to the Bill of
15:36 of
15:39 Rights a jealously independent
15:42 constitutional commission is completing
15:45 its draft which will be submitted later
15:48 this year to a popular
15:52 referendum when it is approved there
15:56 will be elections for both national and
15:59 local positions
16:02 So within about a year from a peaceful
16:06 but National upheaval that overturned a
16:09 dictatorship we shall have returned to
16:12 full constitutional go
16:15 government given the polarization and
16:17 breakdown We
16:20 inherited this is no small
16:24 achievement my predecessor set aside
16:27 democracy to save it from a communist
16:31 Insurgency that numbered less than
16:34 500 unhampered by respect for human
16:38 rights he went at it with hammer and
16:42 tongs by the time he fled that
16:50 16,000 I think there is a lesson here to
16:53 be learned about trying to stifle a
16:57 thing with the means by which it
17:18 thank I don't think anybody in or
17:21 outside our country concerned for a
17:23 democratic and open
17:26 Philippines doubts what must be
17:29 done through political initiative
17:33 and local reintegration programs we must
17:36 seek to bring the insurgents down from
17:40 the hills and by economic progress and
17:43 Justice show them that which the best
17:45 intentioned among them
17:50 fight as president of all my people I
17:53 will not betray the cause of Peace by
18:11 yet equally and again no friend of
18:15 Filipino democracy will challenge this I
18:18 will not stand by and allow an Insurgent
18:22 leadership to spurn our offer of peace
18:25 and kill our young soldiers and threaten
18:27 our New Freedom
18:42 yet I must explore the path of peace to
18:46 the utmost for at its end whatever
18:49 disappointment I meet there is the moral
18:52 basis for laying down the olive branch
19:04 [Music]
19:07 still should it come to that I will not
19:10 waver from the course laid down by your great
19:12 great
19:15 Liberator with malice towards none with
19:18 charity for all with firmness in the
19:22 right as God gives us to see the right
19:25 let us finish the work we are in to bind
19:29 up the nation's wounds to care for him
19:32 who shall have borne the battle and for
19:36 his widow and for his orphans to do all
19:39 which may achieve and cherish a just and
19:43 Lasting peace among ourselves and with all
20:00 nations like a Abraham Lincoln I
20:03 understand that Force may be necessary before
20:04 before
20:09 Mercy like Lincoln I don't relish it yet
20:12 I will do whatever it takes to defend
20:29 country finally may I turn to that other
20:33 slavery our $26 billion foreign
20:38 debt I have said that we shall honor it
20:41 yet the means by which we shall be able
20:45 to do so are kept from
20:48 us many of the conditions imposed on the
20:52 previous government that stole this debt
20:56 continue to be imposed on us who never
21:01 benefited from it and no assistance or
21:03 liberality commensurate with the
21:07 Calamity that was visted on us has been
21:10 extended yet ours must have been the
21:34 with Little Help from others we
21:37 Filipinos fulfilled the first and most
21:40 difficult condition of the debt
21:43 negotiation the full restoration of
21:46 democracy and responsible
21:50 government elsewhere and in other times
21:52 of more stringent World economic
21:55 conditions Marshall plans and their like
21:59 were felt to be necessary companions of returning
22:00 returning
22:03 democracy when I met with President
22:07 Reagan we began an important dialogue about
22:08 about
22:10 cooperation and the strengthening of
22:13 friendship between our two
22:17 countries that meeting was both a
22:19 confirmation and a new
22:22 beginning I am sure it will lead to
22:27 positive results in all areas of common
22:31 concern today we Face the aspiration of
22:34 a people who had known so much poverty
22:38 and massive unemployment for the past 14
22:42 years and yet offer their lives for the
22:44 abstraction of
22:47 democracy wherever I went in the
22:51 campaign slum area or impoverished
22:56 Village they came to me with one cry
22:59 democracy not food although they clearly
23:02 needed it but
23:05 democracy not work although they surely
23:08 wanted it but
23:11 democracy not money for they gave what
23:14 little they had to my
23:17 campaign they didn't expect me to work a
23:20 miracle that would instantly put food
23:24 into their mouths clothes on their back
23:27 education in their children and give
23:31 them work that will put dignity in their
23:35 lives but I feel the pressing obligation
23:38 to respond quickly as the leader of a
23:42 people so deserving of all these
23:46 things we Face a communist Insurgency
23:49 that feeds on economic
23:52 deterioration even as we carry a great
23:56 share of the Free World defenses in the
23:59 Pacific these are only two of the many
24:03 burdens my people carry even as they try
24:07 to build a worthy and enduring house for
24:09 their new
24:12 democracy that may serve as well as a
24:15 redout for freedom in
24:18 Asia yet no sooner is one stone laid
24:22 than two are taken away half are export
24:27 earnings $2 billion out of $4 billion
24:29 which is all all we can earn in the
24:33 restrictive markets of the world must go
24:36 to pay just the interest on a debt whose
24:41 benefit the Filipino people never
24:45 received still we fought for honor and
24:47 if only for Honor we shall
24:52 pay and yet should we have to ring the
24:55 payments from the sweat of our men's
24:59 faces and sink all the wealth piled up
25:02 by the bondsman's 250 years of unrequited
25:04 unrequited
25:08 toil yet to all Americans as the leader
25:12 of a proud and Free People I address this
25:13 this
25:17 question has there been a greater test
25:20 of national commitment to the ideals you
25:25 hold dear than that my people have gone
25:28 through you have spent many lives and
25:31 much treasure to bring freedom to many
25:36 lands that were reluctant to receive it
25:39 and here you have a people who want it
25:43 by themselves and need only the help to preserve
26:16 3 years ago I
26:20 said Thank You America for the Haven
26:24 from oppression and the home you gave
26:27 noinoi myself and our children and for
26:30 the three happy years of our lives
26:35 together today I say join us America as
26:38 we build a new home for
26:41 democracy another Haven for the
26:44 oppressed so it may stand as a shining
26:48 Testament of our two Nations commitment to
27:35 president coron sakino in Her speech
27:37 before the joint session of the Congress
27:40 of the United States of America uh I'm
27:43 still with Norman orstein and U Norman
27:46 the speech was interrupted 10 times um
27:49 in its course and um I guess uh it is
27:51 obvious that the response has been
27:54 enthusiastic wildly enthusiastic I would
27:56 say orley we can see Mrs aino leaving uh
27:57 it's going to take her a while to get
27:59 out of this chamber because I think
28:00 you're going to find all kinds of
28:01 members of Congress those are mostly the
28:03 leaders now near the front of the
28:05 chamber who will want to shake her hand
28:09 she is uh a celebrity of uh of sorts in
28:12 this country now and uh I think she will
28:14 probably exchange greetings with some
28:16 members of Congress who she's met uh
28:19 over the years and uh others who are
28:20 just going to crowd forward to the front
28:23 of the aisles uh to to try to uh reach
28:25 out and shake her hand exchange a word
28:28 or two uh this was a very very
28:31 well-received speech very cleverly
28:32 presented I might I think it's balanced
28:35 uh considering the fact that uh we all
28:38 know um there are differences as far as
28:41 stances as regards uh Aid or policy that
28:43 which the Philippines is concerned uh
28:44 between the Democrats and the
28:46 Republicans and even amongst the
28:47 Republicans there are those who are more
28:50 in the air to the right yes there there
28:52 are definitely some conservative
28:55 Republicans who are fearful that uh uh
28:58 president aino is going to be too soft
29:00 towards the Communist and the Communist uh
29:00 uh
29:02 Insurgency uh and then there are members
29:04 of Congress frankly on both sides of the
29:07 aisle who are uh feeling the economic
29:09 pinch right now the tremendous budget
29:12 pinch but what Mrs aino did was to draw
29:16 in both sides uh uh talking about her
29:18 commitment to democracy and her desire
29:22 to avoid Bloodshed at at uh almost uh
29:24 any uh turn but also indicating her
29:27 determination to keep the Philippines free
