Thirty-nine years ago, on August 21, 1983, Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was assassinated at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport as he was returning from exile in the United States of America.
This brazen assassination of one of the fiercest critics of the regime of then President Ferdinand Marcos would start a chain of events that would eventually lead to the historic People Power Revolution of 1986 that would topple the Marcos dictatorship.
Ninoy Aquino was a prominent Filipino journalist and politician who served the province of Tarlac as mayor, vice governor and governor before being elected to the Senate. A staunch political rival of Marcos, Aquino was among the first to be arrested after the declaration of martial law in 1972. A kangaroo court charged him with murder, illegal possession of firearms and subversion and then he spent the next seven years in prison before being sent into exile in the United States to seek treatment for a heart condition.
Aquino returned to the Philippines despite the threats to his life and fully aware of the dangers that waited him. The man who was credited to have said “The Filipino is worth dying for” had to secure a fake passport and take a circuitous route to Manila. For his sacrifice, tomorrow is a holiday and the Manila International Airport was also renamed the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
August 21 became a holiday in 2004, by virtue of Republic Act No. 2956 signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Remembering the life and sacrifice of Ninoy Aquino is the least we can do to commemorate this holiday that has not been getting the same attention as it was in the past, when Filipinos had a different appreciation for such a selfless act of patriotism. The changing times, priorities and politics may see leaders shift the focus to suit their desired narratives but the facts of the matter at hand cannot be changed and those historical facts are what we should remember whenever the opportunity allows, not just for Ninoy Aquino, but for all Filipino heroes that have offered their lives for this country.*
