Benigno Junior

Back to the future in the Philippines

It's back to the future in the Philippines.

Benigno Aquino III has surfed to the presidency on the crest of a wave of nostalgia for the episodes of more than 20 years ago, when his parents put the Philippines at the centre of world attention.

His mother and father, Benigno Junior and Corazon, were the main characters in scenes that fundamentally changed the course of Philippine history.

I am a "martial law baby" who grew up in exile in London. My parents had managed to get out of the Philippines before Imelda, the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, the late strongman, could have my mother imprisoned for writing a biography of her.

For my generation the shock of seeing Benigno III's father assassinated in a pool of blood on the tarmac of Manila International Airport is a kind of emotional bookend.