San Manuel, Tarlac — In an unexpected turn of events, San Manuel Mayor Benjamin Tesoro took the town’s celebration of the 86th birthday of the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on Tuesday to criticize the Aquino family for the “neglect” his town suffered during the term of Aquino’s son, Benigno III.
In an Inquirer.net article, Tesoro, while introducing the town’s guest speaker Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino, former President Aquino’s cousin, he surprised the crowd when he said that the Aquino family “did not do anything” for San Manuel, a fourth class town.
Snubbed
Tesoro complained about being snubbed by the former president.
“The market I asked your cousin to build … It never happened. I caught the ire of one of the councilors for failing to put up a market,” Tesoro said.
“I was advised to write the Senate and I complained to them about your cousin. I told them he was no good. He is from Tarlac but San Manuel is the poorest Tarlac town and he did nothing to help us,” he added
Tesoro apologized to the senator for the rant, but he said “this is the truth.”
“This is an opportunity for me to say I hope you can redeem yourself. This town has genuine love for your family,” he added.
Frustration
In his response, Senator Aquino said Tesoro was “carried away by his frustrations,” but had remained a true friend of his family.
“I know how much Mayor Tesoro loves Tito Ninoy. He was [Ninoy’s] scholar from the time he was 12 years old until he entered the Philippine Military Academy,” the senator said.
Aquino said Tesoro was the former president of the Scholars Association of Sen. Ninoy Aquino.
“I’ve heard a lot of complaints through Facebook and YouTube, but despite these issues, Mayor Tesoro continues to celebrate Ninoy’s birthday,” Aquino said.
Ninoy started his political career as mayor of Concepcion town. He was elected Tarlac governor in 1961 and senator in 1967.
“Let us let go of all these hurts, these pains and move forward. I assure San Manuel your needs will be addressed at the Senate,” he stressed.
Tesoro asked Aquino to help improve the town’s national high school building, which has only four classrooms. Free college education is Bam Aquino’s advocacy.
November 27 has been declared as a special nonworking holiday for the entire province of Tarlac in celebration the late Ninoy Aquino’s birthday./ Inquirer.net (Maria Adelaida Calayag)