The role of former Senator Agapito “Butz” Aquino in the democratic struggle is a fitting remembrance of the former lawmaker who died on August 17 due to multiple organ failure caused by complications from diabetes.
The narrative of the epic battle against the Marcos dictatorship is usually framed in the great sacrifice of the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, but it would not be accurate without citing the contribution of Butz Aquino who led the charge of political dissidents in the so-called “parliament of the streets,” the forerunner of the EDSA uprising.
Butz died four days before the death anniversary of his brother, Senator Ninoy Aquino. God,in his unfathomable ways, has willed that when we remember the authentic heroes of EDSA, we should not forget those who, like Ninoy, fought just as bravely to restore our democratic institutions.
Butz was elected to the Senate in 1987 in the first national elections after the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship. The 8-year stint in the Upper Chamber was followed by a three-consecutive term in the Lower House where he represented the lone district of Makati City. News articles about his passing often quote his former colleagues in both houses who reminisce about his companionship as friend and professional engagement as lawmaker.
Mainstream media’s peg about the passing of Senator Butz is framed in the democratic struggle. While this is truthful, it does not quite capture his influence in the work of poverty alleviation and human development. Long before “inclusive growth” became a buzzword among economic policy makers, Butz had done extensive work in this area because he was immersed in the co-op movement.
But I have yet to read an article in which co-op leaders, who paid him their last respects last week, were quoted in the context of their shared advocacy for cooperatives. Clearly, not many know about his close engagement with the sector that works closely with marginal communities.
In Cebu, Butz was always a welcome visitor who top-billed important cooperative milestones like the 2013 National Economic Summit held at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug.
Professor Florangel Rosario Braid, a known nationalist, communications expert and former member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, wrote in another broadsheet that Butz is fondly remembered as the “father of the cooperative movement”.
It is in cooperatives where he contributed much of his time, energy, and resources according to Prof. Braid. Together with Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel and the late Sen. Manuel Manahan, they provided the “needed policy and moral support that enabled the cooperative movement to become what it is today.”
Butz authored the Cooperative Code while Nene Pimentel crafted the law establishing the Cooperative Development Authority, the regulatory body and development agency for co-ops. Butz was also the principal author of the Magna Carta for Farmers, a law that strengthened agricultural cooperatives.
I heard that while he enjoyed being in the national spotlight, he decided to hang his political gloves because he didn’t have P200 million seed money for a senatorial bid.
The situation enabled him to devote more time for the Philippine Center for Cooperatives, a sectoral agency which complements the regulatory body Cooperative Development Authority.
As chairman of the PCC, Butz always cautioned against fragmentation and called on co-op leaders to unify and provide a strong voice for the movement.
Over the years, the PCC chairmanship went to active federation leaders like Sylvia Paraguya of Co-op Nattco and Doris Canares of VICTO National. The current set of officers is led by chairman Hamilcar Rutaquio.
Butz may have assumed an advisory role due to frail health, but I think that as PCC chairman emeritus, he worked silently to raise the PCC profile. In 2013, the sectoral body was chosen by important federations including big and influential primaries to become the single and unified voice of co-ops.
In effect, the apex body status extended to the PCC validates the relevance and legacy of Sen. Butz not just to the co-op movement but to our national life.