Aquino Foundation Hopes to Sponsor Fellow

Founders of the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation are attempting to raise $300,000 to establish a fellowship at the Harvard Center for International Affairs (CFIA) in honor of the slain opposition leader.

Organizers hope to sponsor a senior official, preferably from a developing nation, for study each year at the CFIA, an institute which brings fellows and scholars in international affairs to Harvard, according to Mariano L. Ezpeleta '58, a founding member of the Foundation and chairman of the fundraising efforts.

The Foundation and CFIA have had an informal talks about creating such a fellowship, and the Center estimates it will cost approximately $35,000 a year to subsidize the fellowship, Ezpeleta said.

"The center would clearly welcome a fellowship that would be in honor of Aquino that would allow people from other parts of the world to participate in the fellows program," says Executive Officer of the CFIA Chester D. Haskell '69.

Benigno Aquino was a fellow at the CFIA from 1980-83, and lived with Corazon in Newton. Prior to arriving in the United States in 1980, Benigno Aquino was imprisoned in Manila.

The Aquino Foundation was founded by a group of his friends and supporters following the opposition leaders assassination at Manila International Airport in 1983. Its aim is to foster academic opportunities in Philippine Studies, according to Ezpeleta.

The group consists primarily of seven officers, all Boston area residents, who serve as volunteers. Much of the Foundation's efforts until now have been directed towards the establishment of a museum and library in the Aquino's former Newton residence.

The seven-member board hopes to turn the residence into an international center that would make Boston a locus for Philippine studies.

The Foundation plans to solicit donations through mailing and fundraising appeals directed towards the Filipino-American community in Boston and nationwide. Ezpeleta estimates that half a million Filipino-Americans live in the U.S., of which approximately 3000 live in Boston.

"The Filipino-American community is not culturally accustomed to supporting foundations. We really don't know what reaction we'll receive to our initial thrust," he says.

Failure to raise enough funds from the Filipino community might force the foundation to approach other foundations and institutions in the secular community, says Ezpeleta.

Also planned for the future is a trade conference and workshop to increase trade relations between the Philippines and the United States. The foundation, in conjunction with the Philippine Embassy, Department of Commerce and Trade and Chamber of Commerce, will sponsor a series of workshops and displays of Filipino goods in hopes of attracting new markets and increasing United States investment in the Philippines.