OPINION
On Aug. 21, in 1983, Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino was assassinated.
Who? you ask.
I know many followers who are not Filipino have never heard of this man. Younger Filipino Americans who never had the opportunity to hear the relatively recent history of the Philippines probably don't know of him either. Unfortunately, in the Philippines, the dark era of the Marcos dictatorship is not discussed in grade school.
If one is lucky, you might study the dictatorship's desperate decades in college.
To many Filipinos and Filipino Americans, Aquino was a hero. Even his critics cannot deny that Aquino's assassination turned the tide of history.
I don't claim to know Aquino. I wasn't privy to the many meetings held in our conference room at the San Francisco-based Philippine News. I met him a few times, but I didn't know the man. One such meeting stuck with me and gives an idea of what kind of man he was.
The afternoon before he took his fateful flight to the Philippines, he came to say goodbye to the staff of the Philippines News, where I was working as a reporter/editor. We were at the Bahay Kubo restaurant in South San Francisco for a staff lunch/meeting when Aquino dropped in.
He greeted his old friend Alex Esclamado, the Filipino American newspaper's founder and publisher. The Philippine News, formerly a bureau of the old Manila Chronicle, under Esclamado's leadership became an unabashed critic of the Marcos dictatorship, a political stance that enamored it to the pro-democracy forces in the U.S. and the Philippines, but also hurt the newspaper in the community, many of whom did not want to hear or be reminded of the constant barrage of horrors occurring in the Philippines.
After a few words with Esclamado, Aquino, who still looked frail after his heart surgery, went around the table to shake the hands of every employee who was there.
He looked me in the eye and said, "Thank you for all your work. Keep up the fight." All I could muster in my eloquence was, "Good luck to you."
He gave a similar message to every employee at the table, which included secretaries, layout artists and darkroom workers as well as the editors and writers of the newspaper.
He -- and we -- knew this might be the last time we see this man. He could have sought political asylum in the United States after spending years behind bars as a political prisoner in the Philippines. In 1980, at the behest of political pressure from U.S. politicians and the Carter and Reagan administrations, after Aquino suffered a heart attack, Marcos allowed Aquino to visit the U.S. to receive medical care.
But rather than stay in the safety and comfort of his friends and family, he chose to return to the Philippines. He knew he could be killed., but he went anyway. He believed the media that traveled with him would provide some kind of protection. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law, ABC News correspondent Ken Kashiwahara.
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| Soldiers escorted Benigno Aquino off the plane at Manila International Airport. leaving behind the retinue of journalists and brother-in-law ABC News correspondent Ken Kashiwahara. Moments later, Aquino was fatally shot. |
Soldiers entered the plane after it landed in Manila. They said that were a special escort and for his safety they asked that Aquino accompany them. Aquino and the soldiers went down the stairs to a waiting vehicle.
In a prepared speech that he was never able to deliver, he said:
"I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors ... I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis."
Manila is 15 hours ahead of the Pacific time zone. Aquino's plane landed on Sunday, which was still Saturday evening in California when I heard the news.
On the few final stair steps to the airport tarmac, Aquino was shot on the back of his head. He fell forward. In horror, passengers on the plane watched as guards carried his body to a waiting van that drove away.
Aquino was never allowed to set foot on the land he loved ... and died for.
His death sparked a period of national mourning when many Filipinos -- including clergy, students and military -- to turn against the Marcos regime. Aquino's blatant assassination in broad daylight was the last straw.
During Ninoy's funeral, a million people lined the streets of Manila to get a glimpse of his bloodied body. His widow, Corazon Aquino, did not clean up her husband's body. She wanted the public to see the bloodied body of her husband.
The movement sparked by Benigno Aquino's death catapulted his widow, Corazon Aquino to the forefront. She ran as an opposition candidate in the ensuing fraud-filled election in which Marcos claimed victory. No one believe him, of course and the emotion stirred the hearts of the Filipino people and eventually led to the People Power revolution that ousted the dictator from Malanang Palace.
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| Benigno Aquino's body was placed in a van. The body Rolando Galman, who the Marcos regime tried to pin the assassination on. is on the ground next to the van. |
Following is the speech that Benigno Aquino planned to give upon his arrival in Manila:
I have returned on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and freedoms through nonviolence.
I seek no confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation founded on justice.
I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors.
A death sentence awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.
I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.
I never sought nor have I been given assurances or promise of leniency by the regime. I return voluntarily armed only with a clear conscience and fortified in the faith that in the end justice will emerge triumphant.
According to Gandhi, the WILLING sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.
Three years ago when I left for an emergency heart bypass operation, I hoped and prayed that the rights and freedoms of our people would soon be restored, that living conditions would improve and that blood-letting would stop.
Rather than move forward, we have moved backward. The killings have increased, the economy has taken a turn for the worse and the human rights situation has deteriorated.
During the martial law period, the Supreme Court heard petitions for Habeas Corpus. It is most ironic, after martial law has allegedly been lifted, that the Supreme Court last April ruled it can no longer entertain petitions for Habeas Corpus for persons detained under a Presidential Commitment Order, which covers all so-called national security cases and which under present circumstances can cover almost anything.
The country is far advanced in her times of trouble. Economic, social and political problems bedevil the Filipino. These problems may be surmounted if we are united. But we can be united only if all the rights and freedoms enjoyed before September 21, 1972 are fully restored.
The Filipino asks for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less, than all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the 1935 Constitution — the most sacred legacies from the Founding Fathers.
Yes, the Filipino is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that patience snaps?
The nation-wide rebellion is escalating and threatens to explode into a bloody revolution. There is a growing cadre of young Filipinos who have finally come to realize that freedom is never granted, it is taken. Must we relive the agonies and the blood-letting of the past that brought forth our Republic or can we sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our differences with reason and goodwill?
I have often wondered how many disputes could have been settled easily had the disputants only dared to define their terms.
So as to leave no room for misunderstanding, I shall define my terms:
1. Six years ago, I was sentenced to die before a firing squad by a Military Tribunal whose jurisdiction I steadfastly refused to recognize. It is now time for the regime to decide. Order my IMMEDIATE EXECUTION OR SET ME FREE.
I was sentenced to die for allegedly being the leading communist leader. I am not a communist, never was and never will be.
2. National reconciliation and unity can be achieved but only with justice, including justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. There can be no deal with a Dictator. No compromise with Dictatorship.
3. In a revolution there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in order to build.
4. Subversion stems from economic, social and political causes and will not be solved by purely military solutions; it can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom, and
5. For the economy to get going once again, the workingman must be given his just and rightful share of his labor, and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope where there is so much uncertainty if not despair.
On one of the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald Macleish:
“How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always, and in the final act, by determination and faith.”
I return from exile and to an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer — faith in our people and faith in God.
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Aquino's story and the fight against the dictatorship impacted the Filipino American community in ways that is just now being realized.
For the duration of the Marcos reign, Filipino Americans were divided politically along the lines of pro-Marcos or anti-Marcos. Some say the energy and time spent fighting Marcos prevented the community from taking a more substantial role in the civil rights struggle occurring concurrently in this country; and stunted making greater inroads in U.S. politics like more recent immigrant communities have been able to accomplish.
Despite the "distraction" of the Marcos dictatorship, Filipino Americans made historic strides in some area such as better working conditions in agriculture, recognition of Philippine-trained professionals, particularly in the fields of accounting and health care, and policies were initiated to prevent the exploitation of Filipino health workers.
Marcos' harsh regime also became a "push" factor over a 20-year span when many Filipinos, fearful of lost freedoms and persecution, came to the U.S as visitors, students and immigrants. No one has ever tabulated this data but it could very well number in the thousands. They and their children established businesses, homes and communities and became teachers, soldiers, accountants, lawyer, doctors and nurses.
August 21 has become a national holiday in the Philippines, but it should also be a day of reflection for Filipino Americans. Our civil rights shouldn't be taken for granted. Freedom and democracy are principles worth fighting for. It requires taking part in shaping our own future. At the very least, stay informed and vote. Aquino's sacrifice is also part of our legacy -- the legacy of every human being.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.
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