Boston source confirms Noynoy’s mental problem
A Filipino residing in Boston, Massachusetts has confirmed that presidential candidate Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III suffered some mental problem and that his father and namesake Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. sought psychiatric help for him.
The Aquinos lived in Boston when they were exiled to the United States during the Martial Law years, specifically from 1980 to 1983.
Newspaper columnist Carmen Pedrosa wrote she received information she could trust saying “that the allegations about Noynoy’s mental illness were true.”
My source is apolitical but she was moved by her responsibility to her country. She decided to do her part to stop the prevarication of others who also knew. The stories about Noynoy’s mental illness are not ‘concoctions’ she said. These should not be dismissed. It should be proved,” Pedrosa wrote in her column at the Philippine Star on April 24.
Pedrosa retold what her source told her: “Ninoy was worried about his son and his future because he loved him. He expressed frustration that he could not rely on his son to take up his legacy but that was not his main concern. He was more worried about his happiness as a person. That is what led him to seek help from his doctor friend.”
Ninoy sought the doctor and his exact words to him were: ‘Tingnan niyo nga si Noynoy, walang ka-drive drive (for a young boy he was lethargic). He must have a problem.’ The doctor told the story to some close friends among them, the source of this story,” Pedrosa added.
We must look at the issue closely and not be satisfied with mere gossip but seek to establish the facts,” she further wrote.
Pedrosa clarified that her source has no reason to invent a story. “She is a private person who received information she feels must be told. She is connecting a story many years ago when Noynoy was a young boy in Boston, not a presidential candidate but as the well-loved only son of a father frustrated that he will not be able to carry on with his legacy.”
She even cited another columnist, Belinda Cunanan of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, as having written an incident in Tarlac that showed aberrant behavior on the part of the Liberal Party standard bearer.
She quoted Cunanan: “Some mayors relate that at a Tarlac festival, Noynoy was enjoying some halo-halo with local officials and other guests when quite suddenly, he blew some of it over the face of a friend. To the shock of those around him, Noynoy then began to laugh, as if it were a big joke.”
His strange behavior has been told by those who knew him closely, like the classmate from Ateneo, who hid under the pseudonym Tomcat. His recollections give details and can be verified by others who knew Noynoy then. These plus how Ninoy sought help for his son can be the starting point for a serious investigation,” Pedrosa also wrote.
Tomcat alleged he was a classmate of Aquino at Ateneo de Manila University and wrote a letter to him that was published in Manila Standard under columnist Jojo Robles’ space. Its full text can be accessed at http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideOpinion.htm?f=2010/april
/16/jojorobles.isx&d=2010/april/16.
