Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV remembered fondly how the late former President Benigno S. Aquino III had a special spot for soldiers in his heart, adding that the former Chief Executive was the one who reached out to him when he was detained at Camp Crame.
In a video tribute to Aquino posted on his Facebook page Saturday night, Trillanes remembered the late President’s visits to his detention cell at Camp Crame.
“Hindi ako magpapanggap na matalik kong kaibigan si PNoy pero ang masasabi ko isang tunay ko siyang kaibigan (I will not pretend that PNoy was my close friend, but what I can say is that he was a true friend),” he said.
Their friendship started in 2009 when Aquino started visiting him at his detention cell to ask about his situation and those of his colleagues in the Magdalo group.
Trillanes, then a Philippine Navy lieutenant senior grade (equivalent to an Philippine Army captain), and some 300 Magdalo members were detained from 2003 for staging a failed mutiny against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center to protest alleged corruption in government.
The former senator said that Aquino took a special interest in their welfare while in detention. At one point, the former Chief Executive even sent an entertainment system so the soldiers would have something to do while there.
“Talagang makwento siya. Maraming siyang nalalaman sa iba’t ibang bagay even sa mga aspeto ng pagiging sundalo. So makikita mo talagang malapit siya sa sundalo at gusto niya ang mundo ng kasundaluhan (He had a lot of stories. He knew many things in the aspect of being a soldier. So, you will see he’s really close to the soldiers and he liked their world),” he said.
Trillanes also shared that Aquino used to give him updates either through his staff or personally when he visited at Camp Crame. In the 2007 midterm elections, they were both candidates of the independent block and were elected as senators.
When Aquino became president in 2010, Trillanes said their paths diverged.
“Noong naging pangulo na siya eh kahit iba iyong naging landas namin. Eventually in 2010, hindi niya nakakalimutan na ako, na iwan niya ako dun, na isang kasamahan niya, sa kulungan (When he became president, our paths were different. Eventually in 2010, he did not forget about me, his colleague, in prison),” he said.
The late former Chief Executive saw that he was merely a political prisoner, Trillanes said, which pushed him to grant the Magdalo group a presidential amnesty.
READ: Trillanes applied for amnesty and was granted – former president Aquino
“I owe my being here with you being free because of PNoy,” Trillanes said.
Later on, the former senator asked Aquino for the increase in subsistence allowance for the soldiers, something which the late Chief Executive immediately approved when he saw there was a budget for it.
“Noong kaya niya ibigay iyon, hindi siya nag-hesitate. So, isang aspeto iyon sa buhay ni PNoy sa pagiging malapit niya sa sundalo (When he saw that he can give it, he did not hesitate. So, that’s one aspect of PNoy’s life his being close to the soldiers),” Trillanes added.
Aquino died peacefully in his sleep on June 24 due to renal failure secondary to diabetes. He was laid to rest beside his parents, democracy icons Corazon Aquino and Ninoy Aquino, at the Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, Parañaque.
A bachelor, he was survived by his four sisters—Ballsy, Pinky, Viel, and Kris.