August 21st marked the 25th anniversary of Benigno (Ninoy) S. Aquino Jr.’s assassination, who is heralded as a contemporary hero of the Philippines. To commemorate this anniversary, the foundation named after him created the campaign: iamninoy. They branded ninoy’s glasses, his face, and his famous quote: the Filipino is worth dying for on tshirts and other accessories. And of course, a percentage of the proceeds goes to charities fighting for “freedom” and “justice”. Sound familiar? It’s like seeing (red) except it’s more like seeing yellow (the trademark color of his political life, and of his wife, Corazon Aquino who became the first female president of the Philippines). The message as the campaign website explains is that there is a ninoy in all of us; a hero in you, a selfishness in service to the country. It aims to galvanize youth who may not remember ninoy or were born after his death, to follow his example and give the best of themselves to the Filipino people and to the advancement of the country.
Now I can’t front and say that I wouldn’t want one of the shirts (really, some of the designs are kinda hot: http://www.teammanila.com/iamninoy/). I could share my thoughts on whether this consumerist nature of goodwill is effective or even good, but that’s not really the point of this post. I’ll dissect that issue another time.
My immediate reaction, before looking up the website, was one of frustration and disappointment. Based on what I had seen on TFC–The Filipino Channel (yea, I know that it’s got its own problems), I became most concerned about the oversimplification of these three little words. It seemed as if people primarily focused on his ultimate sacrifice and were avoiding talking about the context and political stances of ninoy at the time of his term as a senator, as an imprisoned opponent of the Ferdinand Marcos regime. The hype was more about what he did and not in recognizing the extraordinary times that compelled him to fight against martial law and to reclaim democracy for the Filipino people. At a time when the unlawful killing and salvaging of Filipino people is on the rise again, but this time under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA), shouldn’t those three little words then hold more meaning than the romantic notion of giving up your life for the revolution? Shouldn’t it connect the political environment of ninoy’s time to the current state of the Philippines? I think it’s a bit of disservice to fail to acknowledge that ninoy would be in great conflict with the administration right now for similar reasons as in the 70s/80s and to over generalize his life. However, I recognize that to make this connection is a very, very dangerous thing, and I am privileged and more protected than others who may think along the same lines.
After reading up on the website, I appreciated that there seems to be more recognition for some of the values upheld by ninoy and that the campaign is centered on empowering the youth. I do think it is incredibly valuable and powerful to utter the words “I am” for freedom and justice. But proclaiming these words in its most general form is simultaneously risky. The open-ended nature of this message provides the space to fill in the blank with however you decide to achieve justice, but what does justice look like? Who are you fighting for? And for what? Or are you even thinking that when you buy the shirt?
In the end, no matter what it means to you to wear an iamninoy shirt or not to buy one, I want to believe that this campaign will indefinitely spark questions and illimitable debate about what it means to do the right thing, what integrity is, what it means to serve your homeland, to serve your people, to love your people.
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No. This audacity had been there long before the exile. How he fought for freedom and justice didn't happen just like that.
His life in politics started early. Very, very early. He was the youngest mayor at 22, the country's youngest vice-governor at 27, then governor of Tarlac 2 years later. He became the youngest senator in Philippine history at 34. His many achievements, despite his few years of experience, earned him the moniker, "Wonder Boy".
His popularity was greatly due to his daring criticism of the Marcos regime. Ninoy frequently challenged the dictatorship. Ninoy once referred to the Cultural Center of the Philippines, an extravagant P50-million project of the Former First Lady, as "a monument to shame" in his speech, A Pantheon for Imelda. Consequently, he was called a "congenital liar" by an outraged President Marcos, while the Philippine Free Press hailed him as one of the country's most outstanding senators.
While incarcerated in Fort Bonifacio, Ninoy managed to communicate with underground elements of the opposition who eluded arrest and to even have articles critical of martial law published in the foreign press. In an effort to break his spirit, Marcos had Ninoy and Senator Jose "Pepe" Diokno secretly brought to Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija, where the two were placed in solitary confinement.
In these trying times, Ninoy began to question his faith as he wondered why God would allow him to suffer such indignity and injustice. Rejecting the authority of the military tribunal tasked to pass judgment on his guilt or innocence in the face of trumped-up charges of murder, subversion, and illegal possession of firearms, he went on a 40-day hunger strike that nearly cost him his life.
But, in the depths of his desolation, he realized that he had in fact been living a charmed life and felt shame at whimpering when his character was placed under its most severe test. There began a spiritual transformation that would see Ninoy evolve from a brilliant and ambitious politician to a selfless servant leader who surrendered himself to the will of God.
As expected, the military tribunal pronounced him guilty and sentenced him to die by musketry in 1977. However, the Marcos government could not carry out death sentence as its human rights record came under intense international scrutiny. Ninoy was even allowed to run for a Metro Manila seat in the Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978. With only his family and a ragtag ticket campaigning for him, the imprisoned Aquino still gave the dictatorship a scare as polls showed him a shoo-in for a Batasan seat and as a noise barrage rocked the metropolis on the eve of election day. With the counting of ballots under their control, the administration Kilusang Bagong Lipunan swept the elections.
On his seventh year and seventh month in prison, Ninoy got his divine reprieve in a strange sort of way. He suffered a heart attack and, to his surprise, Marcos allowed him to go to the United States for bypass surgery.
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His request was granted and Ninoy was allowed to go to the US for surgery, together with his entire family. This was arranged after a secret hospital visit by Imelda Marcos. This "emergency leave" was set when Ninoy supposedly agreed to the First Lady's 2 conditions: that if he leaves, he will return; and while in America, he should not speak out against the Marcos regime.
Ninoy was operated in Dallas, Texas and made a quick recovery. After which, he decided to renounce the agreement saying, "a pact with the devil is no pact at all".
He, Cory and their children started a new life in Massachusetts. He continued to work on two books and gave a series of lectures while on fellowship grants from Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His travels across the US had become opportunities for him to deliver speeches critical of the Marcos government.
His original intention in coming home was to talk earnestly to Marcos and convince him to restore democracy through peaceful means. Though realizing that this may be futile, it did not stop him from wanting to return knowing that , "I will never be able to forgive myself if I did not at least try."
Despite orders not to issue him a passport; threatening airlines that they will be denied landing rights if they fly him in; and threats of imprisonment and even death, Aquino persevered insisting that "If it's my fate to die by an assassin's bullet, so be it… the Filipino is worth dying for."
With the help of Rashid Lucman, a friend and former congressman from Mindanao, Ninoy was able to obtain a legitimate passport under the name Marcial Bonifacio (Marcial for martial law and Bonifacio for Fort Bonifacio) and immediately planned out his detour route home.
On the plane, he is joined by several journalists whom he told to "be ready with your camera because this action can become very fast… in a matter of 3 or 4 minutes, it could be all over… and I may not be able to talk to you again after this…" As he prepared to set foot again in his motherland, he made a final statement: "I have returned to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and freedom through non-violence. I seek no confrontation."
Rolando Galman, the alleged assassin, was also immediately gunned down by personnel of the Aviation Security Command.
Upon investigation, however, another passenger named Rebecca Quijano testified that she saw a man, who was wearing a military uniform right behind Ninoy, shoot him at the back of his head. A post-mortem analysis confirmed that Ninoy was indeed shot from the back, at close range.
Speculations of a conspiracy by the Marcos government instantaneously spread. After investigations, 25 military men were arrested including then Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian Ver. After a seemingly unending trial process, only 16 were sentenced to reclusion perpetua on September 28, 1990.
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