MANILA, Philippines?He may not have a wife to campaign for him, but he has four formidable sisters barnstorming in his behalf.

And the sisters of Liberal Party presidential candidate Senator Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III, 50 and unmarried, are aiming for nothing less than victory.

?When we get into something, we?re in it to win,? Maria Elena ?Ballsy? Aquino-Cruz said during a visit with two of her sisters to the Inquirer office last week.

Added Aurora Corazon ?Pinky? Aquino-Abellada: ?[Losing is] not an option. We?re thinking he?s here to win.?

Apart from traveling to various points of the country to make the pitch for their brother, Ballsy and Pinky are helping raise funds for his campaign. They are also tasked with saying ?no? to certain donations running in the millions of pesos that he refuses to receive.

Victoria Elisa ?Viel? Aquino-Dee is watching over the campaign expenses. The youngest of the brood, actress and TV host Kris Aquino-Yap, has pulled out all the stops for her brother?selling her house, paying for his initial TV ads, and getting her show biz friends to endorse him.

It was not like that in the beginning.

When, after the death of their mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino, last August, they saw the first hints that Noynoy would seek the presidency, the three sisters vehemently resisted.

They feared he might be killed, or that they?Ballsy, Pinky and Viel?would again be dragged into the limelight, as they were during their mother?s presidency.

?When we were trying to convince him not to run, we were like: ?Noy, have pity on us. You have no spouse... If your enemies, want to hit you, there?s only us, our husbands, our kids.? We were trying to think of all the arguments,? Pinky said.

She added: ?I thought he might die [or get assassinated]. I told him, ?Please go on a retreat. At least I know that should anything happen, you?re OK.??

Ballsy said she was concerned about what a grueling and dirty campaign would do to their own families. She said her and her sisters? children were also affected by the mud being thrown about.

?I told him, ?Noy naman, we?ve been there and you know [what it?s like].? He was just quiet, not arguing,? she recalled.

Ballsy said Noynoy had initially been against his running for president because he was a long-time supporter of Sen. Manuel ?Mar? Roxas? own political plans. (Roxas was then the LP standard-bearer.)
She said her brother began to seriously consider the idea ?when people he admired and looked up to said, ?Noy, you have to.??

Kris at the time understood what her sisters were going through and also told Noynoy about their concerns, according to Pinky.

?[Her] argument was: ?Noy, we two are OK but the three of them, they?re so private, kawawa naman sila,?? Pinky said.

She said jokingly that when Kris promised their dying mother that they would campaign for Noynoy if and when, she did so ?without our permission.?

It was the night of July 20 and their mother, who was then battling cancer, had been administered sedatives to lessen the pain she was experiencing.

Said Pinky: ?Suddenly her eyes opened and she began to talk. I was there with Kris.

?I said, ?Kris, mom?s talking.? I could not make it out. It was just her lips moving, and [I heard] Kris promising the world.

?She said, ?Mom, if Noynoy runs, I?m going to campaign. Di ba (Right), Pink???
And Pinky recalled her own surprised expression.

Ballsy said Kris was then thinking about 2013, after Noynoy?s first term in the Senate ends.
?When we were trying to convince him not to run (for the presidency), Pinky said, ?Noy, I want you to know this is a franchise and you only have 20 percent of the franchise. So it does not have to be you. It can be any of us,?? Ballsy added, laughing.

And then Roxas announced on Sept. 1 that he was no longer running for president and was stepping aside in Noynoy?s favor.

?It was like panic time for us, and we talked to Noy. Finally, he said: ?I am not deaf.? We were shouting na pala,? Pinky said.

After Noynoy made up his mind to seek the presidency, his sisters?except for Viel, who held out until hours before he announced his decision on Sept. 9?promised him their support.
(Viel even tried to enlist LP campaign manager Butch Abad?s support, but it was too late.)

?We felt that we were just being selfish. We were thinking that because he has no wife, we will have to [campaign] for him,? Ballsy said.

Except for Viel, Pinky said, the sisters sent a text message to Noynoy: ?I?m sorry, we just had to [tell you] what?s inside [us]. Whatever you decide, we?ll support you.?

Pinky said Noynoy?s supporters showed her and her sisters "garapon (jars) filled with coins? for his campaign expenses.

?We remembered mom?s stories when she was campaigning (for the presidency for the 1986 snap polls),? she said, referring to the late newspaper publisher Chino Roces? fundraising drive for their mother?s run against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Pinky said a priest in Palawan, and even a bishop, had contributed a month?s allowance to their brother?s campaign.

?The priest wrote, ?Your dream is my dream. Your hope is my hope. I?ve worked in Payatas with the poor. I know what corruption does to the poor,?? Pinky said.

She said she had the letter framed ?because it was so beautiful, and I put it in Noy?s bedroom so that in his very tired days, it will really help.?

Ballsy said she was uncomfortable with fundraising.

?We never ask anyone. Other people ask for us. But even just accepting is so embarrassing. And we really don?t have properties to sell, unlike mom and dad (the late former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.) before,? she said.

According to Ballsy, their brother is ?so strict? about campaign contributions.

She said she had a friend who knew someone who wanted to make a donation for Noynoy?s first campaign for the House of Representatives, and he turned it down because he had doubts about the would-be contributor.

?He said, ?Don?t let the person lose face. Just say we don?t need it at this time,?? she said.

Ballsy said they had turned down ?millions? because these fell short of Noynoy?s guidelines on contributions.

?In fact we asked a priest, ?Father, is it OK?? And he said that as long as there are no conditions and no promises, [it?s OK]. Noy has his guidelines. If he feels the money is ill-gotten, he does not take it,? she said.

Ballsy said she and her sisters became more organized after the January surveys showed that Noynoy was in a statistical tie with the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer, Sen. Manuel Villar

(The results of the February survey of Pulse Asia, released on Friday, had Noynoy at 36 percent and Villar at 29 percent.)

Pinky said they had to come forward and campaign for Noynoy now that their mother was gone.

She and Viel also said that they were later glad that Noynoy took up the challenge after their mother?s passing.

Recalled Ballsy: ?Mom had sleepless nights when Noynoy was running for the Senate. We?d get word from friends. They?d say, ?Just came from Malacañang and we were told: What is this I hear that you?re helping Noy? He shouldn?t win.??

She said that despite the sleepless nights, their mother would pray and even gave them the same prayer?"to accept whatever God?s will is.?

?She always had a way to make you feel, ?Ah, why worry about it??? Ballsy said. ?I kept telling Pink, ?It?s destiny.? If Noynoy does not make it, maybe God has something else. So I will not get worried about all those things.?

Pinky said she and her sisters had discussed the matter and agreed that ?mom and dad never took the easy route.?

She added: ?So I told my siblings: Both mom and dad never turned their backs on any challenge. We?re now in this. Let?s go for broke.?