MALE CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT

Bam Aquino On His Martial Law Childhood, Edsa I, And Relationships

Our president's cousin--and dead ringer for EDSA hero and uncle Ninoy--gets more personal with Cosmo.
Posted on February 22, 2011 12:00 pm by Amie Perez
Photo: Courtesy of Jollibee (main photo); Amie Perez (event photos)

A lot of us are probably too young to remember how life was like before the 1986 EDSA Revolution. Some of us were probably not even born yet. But for someone who calls the late Senator Ninoy Aquino uncle and President Cory Aquino aunt, growing up at the time of Martial Law was a life-altering experience. That's probably why Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV works hard to give our fellow Pinoys better lives.

At 26, Bam was already the youngest person in Philippine history to head a government agency, the National Youth Commision. Later on, he co-founded the Hapinoy Store Program, which aims to help people in the countryside make a decent living by owning sari-sari stores. He is also a spokesperson for Children's Hour and Haribon Foundation. Recently, along with Sam Concepcion, he was handpicked to be one of Jollibee's Yumbassadors for being a role model for the youth.

He seems larger than life, but what is he like beyond all these accomplishments? Cosmo sat down with him for a light yet inspiring interview. We even talked about his love life!

You have such a busy schedule! How do you relax? How do you reward yourself?

Like everyone else, you know, we go to movies, we eat out, not any different from anybody else. Admittedly, this year has felt like three years already. 'Tong January, sobrang busy talaga siya. But it’s all good stress. Because it means that things are moving on. And take note that we started Hapinoy four years ago. So, every year is a big evolutionary step for the company. So, every time we evolve, a lot more stress for me, pero, you know, it’s all good. We like our gadgets, and we like movies and stuff. So, pretty normal, pretty pedestrian types of relaxing. Wala namang kakaibang ginagawa.

You've been with your girlfriend for five years. Tell us your story.

Ah! It's an interesting story. So, most of my professional life kasi was in government, sa National Youth Commission. I was there for five years and she was part of one of the exchange programs of the NYC, the SSEAYP, the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program. It was one of the premier exchange programs that NYC still runs. She was one of the delegates. Hindi ko siya niligawan nun. Iba 'yung boyfriend niya, iba 'yung girlfriend ko nung time na 'yun. And then, a year later, she volunteered. And at that time, ayun, dun ko siya niligawan kasi single na kami nung time na 'yun. That’s it. We’ve been together since the last few months ko sa NYC. Matagal na rin kami. A lot of history has also happened.

How did you court her?

Wala, wala nang ligaw-ligaw! We just started going out and we never stopped. Seriously, after the first date, 'yun na 'yun.

Do you have any tips for our readers on what really makes a relationship last?

My gosh! Hindi ako expert ha! Interesting enough, we had a really good five years. As baduy as it may sound, a relationship or love is a choice. And in the same way, if it’s not working out, you have to choose na it’s not working out. Pero 'yun nga, we had a really good five years and hopefully more. It’s a lot of understanding, a lot of support for each other... I’m so bad at this. I can’t really articulate what I want to say. On one hand kasi, I really can’t say what maybe other couples can say na "Grabe 'yung pinagdaanan namin, na, on our third year, it was so bad..." Wala akong masabi na ganun e. Wala akong ganung experience. But on the other hand, it's because we both really are in this relationship together. So, we're both okay.

What do you think makes the two of you compatible?

(Laughs) Ano ba 'tong mga tanong na 'to? Ang hirap sagutin! Hanggang diyan na lang ah, wala na 'yung mga tips on ano ha! We have a lot of things in common, although we are in very different fields. She's in a fast moving consumer goods company, I'm in social enterprise. But in many ways, we both have similar outlook for the country. We both... love each other, parang ang hirap sabihin. We just are compatible. It's just so hard to articulate.

What’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for a girl?

I don’t know. I really can’t think. I’m sweet everyday. I am, I’m sweet everyday. I'm kind with my words, I give compliments. Hindi ako stingy kasi libre 'yun 'di ba? Don't be stingy with words of support. I’m there for the other person. So, hindi ako ma-grand gesture na tao. I’d like to think na I’m sweet everyday.

Could you share one piece of relationship advice for our readers?

The guy that will love you will love you for you, warts and all. So, don’t try to be somebody else, because it will be much harder 'pag kayo na and you can't be yourself.

Growing up, who influenced you the most?

My parents and my uncle (Ninoy Aquino).

In what way do you think they have helped you?

I was really young kasi when my uncle was shot. So, most of my childhood was really around 'yun nga. Nu'ng namatay siya, there was a lot of problems to clarify in different parts of the country. And there was a need for us to go out, to show na we weren’t afraid. So during that time, as a family we would go around and really go to different places--as far as Mindanao, four corners of Tondo. Talagang anywhere there was an invitation, we would really go. Media was controlled, walang Internet. So, there was no other way to communicate with people, we had to go out and speak on a platform.

Any invitation, tatanggapin talaga namin. And my family, ako 'yung toka, so I would be the one to go out. So my childhood was really like that, from [the time I was] 6 years old to 10 years old. [Like other kids, I] go to school, go home, do [my] homework, and eat dinner. Then sa gabi, we would go around sa mga rally. And I would speak to [the people] sa mga rally.

So, that was a really big influence in my life. 'Di ba what happens in your childhood affects so much of your legal years. So you experience bravery--we were afraid for our lives during that time. Ngayon kasi it's so hard to think if papatayin ka ng gobyerno 'di ba? But at that time talagang it was a possibility.

So, you experience bravery, you experience unity--na 'yung nakatayo sa crowd, 'yung mga sobrang yaman at sobrang hirap. You learn courage, you experience people who think larger than themselves. These days, mga Pinoy, [we] only think of ourselves or our families. [But before,] may goal na mas malaki.

So I think, also of my life, it's always been looking for that. So we're trying to do it now, another version in Hapinoy. We're trying to do another version maybe in Rags2Riches, for example. You get back to that point when people think larger than themselves [and] think of the country, more than just thinking of their family. And, obviously, these days, hindi na siya dadaanin sa rally. It has to be something else. It could be social enterprise, which is what we're doing now.

So, of course, my uncle played a big role there. My parents, also [played a big role, with the way] they handled [the issues we faced] that time. Kasi, like, tayo, our age, we only know Tita Cory being president, now Noynoy being president--always from the upside. Pero during the Martial Law, when my uncle was in jail, kwento ng parents ko, their friends wouldn’t even call them, wouldn’t even want to be associated with them because we had a relative in jail.

So, you know, how they handled that, how they handled being pariahs back then and how they handled it when Tita Cory was president, parang ang daming kaibigan bigla... 'di ba? So how they handled that, how they kept their integrity, and how never sila nadala sa mga ganung bagay, that really, I think, influenced me.

Have you ever felt disillusioned?

No! Because I think it goes back to the time where [during] rallies, 20 people lang ang kausap mo. At 'yung lima dun bata at aso. Hardly anyone was really looking at [the possibility of] change, and how it was so impossible in the '80s to topple the dictatorship. 'Til reaching EDSA 1, na parang... My God! We were able to do the impossible. And that’s really my childhood e, dun ako lumaki. So parang, if you know that at that time, it was possible, that it was done before, then it can be done again, 'di ba? But, it will be in a different form, because we have changed as a people. Hopefully we have learned a little bit from the past. And, the way it's done will be different. Maybe through social enterprise, maybe through community efforts 'di ba? So, kaya e. Therefore, kayang bumalik dun. Or, kaya to even surpass it, 'di ba? So, that sort of gives you a sense of hope and understanding na kung nagawa na naman natin, kaya ulit 'yan. It will just be different, 'di ba?

Launch the gallery to view photos of Bam during the Jollibee event.