Remembering Ninoy Aquino–let not his death be brought to naught

Posted on August 21, 2008
Filed Under Peace amd Governance, Promoting Filipino Image | Viewed 540 times

25 years ago today, Ninoy Aquino was shot to his death, just a few minutes after an interview where he foresaw what would happen to him—he is a visionary, a real one.

I was 6 months pregnant then with daughter, Monica. It was a very sad day, as I thought I had a real affiliation with him—held hands with him for what seemed like a long time when I was a little girl (at the wake of one of our relatives), and walked in the same grounds where he walked in Concepcion, Tarlac (my father’s hometown). I beamed with pride when his mother, Dona Aurora Aquino, and Ninoy himself, would send hordes of patients to my father, who was then the only optometrist in his town, and the many stories of my father and his relatives about their affiliation with and affection of the Aquino family. My father even looked like him, they were classmates in pre-school, and shared the same birth month and birth year.

As a young girl, I followed stories about his young political life, took pride in my town having the youngest senator ever during his time, was thrilled about his political plans and ambitions (I really thought he would be President), and in my early marriage read about his exile to the US, and finally, looked forward to his return. I was filled with hope that soon the Marcos years would come to an end. But no, it was his end that came—his death, leaving the famous words, “The Filipino is worth dying for.” The whole nation mourned, I mourned for him. The whole nation felt betrayed, I felt betrayed.

Until finally the collapse of the Marcos era—everyone found a NEW HOPE. Fast forward to many years after that…and what have we got? Where are we now? ~~Seems to be~~ Obviously much worse than that of the Marcos years. I do not need to elaborate.

The holiday that was 25 August was moved to a Monday, with an alibi of having long weekends—does this sell? NO! For me, it is just to confuse the people about the importance of the holiday. The kids, particularly, now do not anymore know which holiday is which, and which holiday is when. It is just a ploy to make the Filipino forget the significant events. And that is hitting the Filipino where he/she is weakest—the Filipino, generally, does not have a sense of “culture”. He/She has more of a “mall” culture than what culture truly is. The young generation does not know who Ninoy really is, except that he is in the P500 bill, perhaps.

Dear young boys and young girls, young men and women, try to learn more about him. 25 years down the road is not yet too late to know how great a hero Ninoy truly is. You are the leaders of the future, emulate him, let his legacy burn in your hearts, in our hearts, and make happen what he dreamed for and died for—a nation truly free, (in my limited language) devoid of poverty, corruption, cheating, hypocrisy, controversy, violence, dependence to other nations, etc.

Let us not lose hope and just be blind and deaf with what is happening around us. Our country has many problems, our leaders cannot even offer sustainable solutions to our problems, while the ones who have good intentions are put down and torn to pieces. I really do not know the formula, but as a Filipino people, let us do our share.

Let not Ninoy’s death be brought to naught.

And of course, let us continue praying for his dear wife, our former President Cory Aquino.