AJ columnist Rogelio Constantino Medina with Bam Aquino
PAOLO Benigno “Bam” Aguirre Aquino IV is the youngest among the brood of three sons of Paul Aquino of Concepcion, Tarlac and former Melanie Aguirre of Davao.
Bam, or formerly Bambam, a name picked up from the Flintstones cartoon, remembers he joined a cub scout, a media club and the Dulaan Sibol theatre group, taught catechism in a depressed area in Marikina, and became a student council president when he was in elementary and college at Ateneo de Manila University where he graduated with a degree in management engineering with the highest honor, summa cum laude.
He was then a part of the defunct Children’s Hour TV show on Channel 2 when he was only 10 years old. Later in his life, he hosted a youth-oriented morning talk show on ABS-CBN’s Studio 23, Breakfast, a youth-oriented debate show, Yspeak, also on Studio 23, and a show for budding entrepreneurs, Start-Up, on ABS-CBN News Channel. He used to be involved with ABS-CBN Foundation’s special projects group that focused on rehabilitation centers for abused and neglected kids, disaster management and relief operations, and volunteer recruitment.
“When Noynoy Aquino (his first cousin) became president, all the shows I had had to do with the enterprise to help those little businessmen in the Philippines. 97% of our entrepreneurs are micro-entrepreneurs, like the fishball vendors, sari-sari store owners, livestock raisers. Iyon ang masang Pilipino,” he said.
Ninoy Aquino’s assassination
Bam fondly remembers that he began visiting his uncle, former Senator Ninoy Aquino, in prison when he was only 2 or 3 years old. When his uncle died, he was barely six years old. “I, together with my yaya (nanny), was the one left in the house when my parents and two brothers (Paul Dennis and Paul Victor) went to the airport. I was small.”
Hours after, his nanny told him to pray to the altar because something bad happened in the airport. “When my parents came back in the afternoon, I saw the reaction on their face. They were shocked.”
He then joined rallies and he gave his first public speech on December 8, 1983, during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, in Biñan, Laguna. There were around 20 to 30 people.
“It was a children’s rally, but eventually it became a regular indignation rally. My mom prepared me a speech written in a yellow pad. We didn’t have a computer then, and I memorized it,” reminisced Bam, who was then a small fat kid with long flappy hair.
He added, “We had been to over 200 places as far as Mindanao, and I spoke. It was almost every night after I went home from school and did my homework. Sa gabi ay umiikot na kami. That was really my childhood. But it was a gift to be exposed during that time. To be able to see Filipinos coming together for a cause larger than themselves is a blessing… We got a glimpse of something special. We got a glimpse of what we can do and what we can be.”
He is blessed that he is exposed to the struggle and also a blessing when he got into social enterprise.
“Iyon ang childhood memories ko. That’s why I ran for student council, joined an NGO and later the government, and was involved in social enterprise. Kahit bata ako, I understood what was happening, at the time when you experience Filipinos coming together. And you’re still trying to look for that time when we will come together again,” he said.
Bam Aquino with first cousin actress Jackie Aquino and Anna Ylagan (daughter of actor Robert Arevalo and actress Barbara Perez).
The pain transformed
Was Ninoy’s assassination still painful to Bam, who had been jolted to the events in the country at an early age?
When the EDSA Revolution happened, it was, he thought, all over.
“Yes, I cried and felt the pain until about 1985. When he passed away, it was more painful and more personal. But now, it’s really more of an inspiration. At the end of the day, hindi ka ba natatakot na tatakbo ka. You’re putting yourself out there. Babatikusin ka. People will hate you automatically because of your last name. My relatives had given so much more (of themselves). He gave his life. All of these seems very far from what Tito Ninoy and Tita Cory did. Through the years, the pain has been transformed to an inspiration,” he said.
He does not tire talking about his uncle Ninoy’s struggle because it is a story of confirmation, he said. “One day, you’re thinking to be next president. Then the next day, you’ll be in jail for 7 years and 7 months. Afterwards, you lived in the U.S. for three years with your family, having a great time there until you decided to come back. He’s a different person before he went to jail and after he left jail.”
Senator Ninoy Aquino was an excellent politician before he was incarcerated. After he left jail, he was an excellent leader.
As to what his uncle Ninoy believed in that has been ingrained deep in Bam’s young mind, he mentions non-violence and democracy. His favorite quotation is Ninoy’s “The Filipino is worth dying for.”
“But I also like Uncle Ninoy’s ‘Filipinos above all appreciate bravery.’ And that’s what I feel is what I am doing now. Tumataya. I am stepping up to the challenge. I want to serve,” he concluded with a sweet, wide smile.
In the just-concluded Philippine general election, Bam Aquino placed number two among the 12 senatorial candidates. “Last year taught me to have no fear and only faith. To make that leap with a full heart and hope. To always fight the good fight, even if against the odds, as long as it’s for the right reasons. God-willing, I hope to see a return to public service this 2025!”
