Today, we remember that fateful day of August 21, 1983 when NInoy Aquino was assassinated at the tarmac of what was then the Manila International Airport. Twenty-five years had passed, his assassination remain unsolved.
I was too young to remember the events of 1983. What I know of Ninoy are what’s written about him in high school history books, articles and television features. And the fact that an International Airport was named after him, that he is on the 500 peso bill, that Cory Aquino was his wife and Kris and Noynoy were his children.
The events that lead to his assassination are even more vague. I know that he was a staunch critic of Marcos and was jailed and exiled because of that. I know too that his death was the catalyst that lead to the 1986 EDSA revolution. I know too that it was Ninoy who said, “The Filipino is worth dying for.” Had he been alive today, would he still say the same thing? How different was the Philippines of 1983 to the Philippines of 2008?
I don’t really know the life of Ninoy that much but I guess most of us who were not yet old enough during the Martial Law period don’t. We only see the oppression that befell our countrymen through video clips and photographs but we cannot truly understand how difficult those years were. Nor can we see how similar that period was to the present, as what those who experienced Marial Law had claimed.
Now, more than ever, we need a Ninoy. A leader to look up to. Somebody noble. Somebody incorruptible. I know it is too much to ask. But if this country can produce somebody like Ninoy, I know it’s not futile to hope.
Today, with all the bad things happening in the Philippines, what we can do perhaps is to make Ninoy’s ideals live through us. We don’t have to make the ultimate sacrifice of dying for our country like Ninoy did. But at least let’s try to make this country worth living for. We may not be able to reap the rewards in our time but I hope our children will. Let’s be part of the solution instead of the problem. Let us be the hero that we need and deserve.
From Ninoy’s Arrival Speech that he never got to read,
” . . . I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.”
Know more about Ninoy, please visit these links:
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I just want to give my SALUTE to NiNOY, I hope that there are more NiNOYs today to FIX the present political situation of our beloved country.
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nadumduman ko lang nga naka lantaw ko newswatch sang pag assasinate sa iya. then one of the soldiers accused of killing him was my classmate’s uncle.
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Gladits,
The sad thing about Ninoy is that the young generation don’t know him anymore. I was asking high school students here if they knew something about him and they said “Ay sya yung nasa 500″. That simple. I love the guy for we wouldn’t be enjoying things we do now like the democratic freedom we have after the Marcos regime. His influence up to now can be felt. I don’t have political affiliations but in my view, Ninoy is the best President of the republic that we never really had.
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@LiNTEK – Yes, I do hope too. Sana naman makunsensya naman mga kurakot na pulitiko.
@Kwan – That only shows mas tigulang ka sa akon… kag may TV kamo ya sg una.
@Jessie – Totoo yan friend. At saka mas sikat pa ata si Kris kesa sa kanya. Sana maalala mga ginawa nya.
Pag graduation sang Nanay ko sa high school si Ninoy ila speaker. That was just before Martial Law, just around the time that the students were starting to take to the streets to protest. By the time Martial Law was declared, ang iban na mga classmates sang Nanay kag Tatay ko nag upod sa mga communista. Iban sa ila asta subong wala na bal-an kung diin, iban patay na, iban bag-o lang ka assimilate liwat sa society after many years.
Everything I learned about Ninoy, Martial Law and People Power; I learned through my History classes and through the stories of my parents. I would never understand how Martial Law and Ninoy’s martyrdom changed my parents’ generation perhaps in the same way that my parents would never understand my generation’s motivations and inspirations. But we have to learn from our past as a nation. Because that is the only way we can prosper in the future.
@Tikalon – You know, sometimes I wish I was old enough during those turbulent years. Martial Law period was perhaps one of the darkest in our history yet I think it brought out the best in Filipinos. It made heroes out of ordinary people.
Ninoy will always be remembered like any of our National Heroes today….
They laid the foundation kung bakit kahit papaano ay malaya ang Pilipinas. Hanggat malaya ang Pilipinas, hindi sila malilimutan kahit kailan.
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glad, huo may tv kami… B/W… niveco ang brand color red… hahaha.. very 80s
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