Aquino: The Consumate Kleptocratic Personality Cult

July 31, 2014 by Jacques Phillip

In the Early 1980′s, the Aquino family of the Philippines had been hard at work building a huge following of support for their inevitable takeover of the administration of then-President, Ferdinand Marcos. Publicly, their efforts intended to instill within the people, the belief that they would “free” the nation from the evil clutches of a Dictator. But in reality, they were preparing to launch something the likes of which the Filipino had never before, truly experienced.

The Personality Cult.

Before we go further, let us first, better define this unique phenomenon. A personality cult or cult of personality is a system in which a leader is able to control a group of people through the sheer force of his or her personality and is often portrayed as a Saintly or God-like figure. Where the personality cult is about a head of state, criticism of that person is generally prohibited, and state-sponsored media are employed to ensure that the masses are given a consistent picture and/or reminder of the person’s perfection.

That picture is likely to be a literal picture, and the image of the leader is typically plastered over much of the visual landscape. New surfaces may be produced for no other reason than to present that image, as satirized with the balloon bearing Joseph Stalin’s image in an empty field in the 1994 Russian film Burnt by the Sun.

Personality cults are often found in totalitarian regimes. Although it is rare to see them in Democratic countries, they do occur from time to time. Which brings us back now, to the Philippines and the Aquino bunch.

Since February 1986, The Aquino clan have successfully built an enormous cult centering around the notions of “Hero worship” and more. They achieved this through the still-constant use of their hand gesture “L” symbol. The color yellow. The assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino. And of course, the idea that Corazon “Cory” Aquino is a Saint.

Most recently, the administration of incumbent President, BS Aquino III has taken the entire Cult to an entirely new level. From the moment he took power in 2010, he immediately made changes to the national currency. Most notably, the 500 peso bill. It has a yellower appearance. And features both of his parents likeness, as well as a memorial statue to his father.

Other examples of what has now been termed the “Yellow Family” can be seen in and around Manila and parts of the country.

Manila International renamed to: Ninoy Aquino International Airport
A large bust of Ninoy Aquino inside the ticketing area.
Statues of Cory, Ninoy and Cardinal Sin along Roxas Ave. Portrayed in saintly fashion.
The province of Tarlac has banner likenesses of the Aquino’s all around, claiming “Aquino Country.”
Yellow ribbons scattered around Manila. Tied to tree, lamp posts, etc.
Kris Aquino constantly in everyone’s face, reminding them of how great they are.
President Noynoy Aquino himself wears a yellow ribbon, instead of his nations flag.

His most recent use of the Aquino name was during his annual SONA, he mentioned his parents, which prompted his younger sister Kris to break down into tears. Many analysts saw this as a tactical ploy on her part, to regain sympathy from the people, in the wake of the Supreme Courts recent decision to render a number of her brother’s Presidential activities as unconstitutional.

The Kleptocratic Empire

To make matters worse, the Aquino’s, their family, friends, and a vast number of their political allies, over the course of the past 3 decades, have been systematically looting billions of pesos from the national treasury, and funneling them through assorted businesses owned by the family and their friends. Bogus NGO’s and most recently, the Presidents controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

And while all of the above and more has been going on, the Aquino’s, through much of their family owned and/or partnered media outlets, such as ABS/CBN, Channel 5, GMA, a number of radio stations and most recently Facebook, continue to “flash” images and other reports of “All the wonderful things the President has done for the people.” Every so often, there will be the little quip to remind the Filipino people what “Saintly martyrs and heroes” Ninoy and Cory were.

Through the process of dumbing-down, the Aquino’s, having successfully re-molded the average Filipino’s simplistic brain patterns, and have produced what can be classified as a very unhealthy hero fetish. It now appears as though it may take a long time to clean out the brainwashing garbage, and revert the Filipino back to a self-thought, self-controlling individual.

In the meantime, Here is a sampling of what a personalty cult looks like. And like the Kim’s of North Korea. It’s right there, in front of your face.

The question is: “Are you willing to snap out of it. Or are you just too fuckin’ stupid to see it?”