I’ve just watched TalkBack, a program hosted by Tina Monzon Palma on ANC with Jiggy and Jonty Cruz, Nina Abellada and Kiko Dee. They were all so articulate and it is interesting to know how they viewed the support of the Filipino people during Tita Cory’s funeral. Nina and Jonty were a bit reserved while Jiggy was so vocal about his opinions. I found Kiko having the most charisma among the Aquino grandchildren (the older ones, I mean, because Baby James can also hold his own, haha). Kiko is so cute when he smiles, he reminds me of Ninoy.
I am re-posting here the blog I’ve made a year ago during his death anniversary. A few more days to go before his 26th death anniversary. It’s my own tribute to my personal hero.
| My Own Memories Of Ninoy August 20, 2008 – (from my Multiply blogs) |
My daughter and I were watching Umagang Kay Ganda on ABS CBN while having our breakfast and she asked why they were all wearing yellow T-shirts. and I said, “di ba ngayon ang death annniversary ni Ninoy?”. I told her that, what’s not so good about this holiday economics is, we could barely remember what we are celebrating since the holiday has preceded the commemoration of the real event. Like today, who would think that it’s now the 25th death anniversary of Ninoy? It is a regular school day and it is a regular workday too. Then they began playing Tie a Yellow Ribbon and I told Nissa that it was a favorite song of Mom (all the apos call her Nanay, by the way). My mom used to dance to this song every time it was played on radio way back then.
The youth of today would probably remember Ninoy as just a face on our five hundred peso bill or just a few lines maybe in their history textbooks. But for me, Ninoy represents a dream that never came true, a future for the Filipinos that never was. I have my own memories of Ninoy. I was in third year high school or was it my senior year when Martial Law was declared. Back then, we would always see demonstrations by the Kabataang Makabayan. There was even a time when they entered the UST campus and paraded empty kabaongs – the turbulent times of the Martial Law years. We learned to live with it for more than a decade until the time Ninoy was shot at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983.
I can vividly recall that it was a Sunday, the hubby and I decided to attend an early afternoon mass at Sto. Rosario Church in Pasig and the barker at the tricycle terminal was shouting “patay na si Ninoy, binaril sa tarmac“. True enough, when we reached the church, the priest who officiated the mass confirmed our worst fears, Ninoy is dead. There were several unspoken questions like “what will happen now?” Around that time my daughter was just ten-months old. The hubby and I were afraid for the unseen future brought about by the assasination of Ninoy. I remember his rapidfire speech delivery, unafraid, a beacon of hope for the Filipino people.
A year after, Cory’s family set up an exhibit at the Cojuangco building in Makati just behind the Bank of PI head office. There were lots of memorabilia, even including the clothes he was wearing when he was shot, his eyeglasses and other personal effects. Even the small plywood that he used to jot down his number of days in cell was there too. It was a deeply moving experience for me seeing the shadows of a man who could have been our president. It was around that time that rallies started in Makati. We were always at the forefront because BPI is located at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas where the rallies were held. We used to make paper flowers from yellow crepe papers and threw them every time a rally is held there. Even our janitor brought us sacks of confettis to use for the rallies. Our shredding machine that time was ultra busy with used printouts to add to the festive mood of confetti throwing.
I used to collect issues of Malaya where snapshots of what was happening around Metro Manila were published. I think it was the only paper brave enough to report everything.
I remember the time when Marcos and his family finally left the Philippines for Hawaii in 1986. Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala invited every employee of the Ayala Group of Companies for a street dance along Ayala Avenue . And we did, employees in barong and corporate attire dancing in the street to the tune of Tie a Yellow Ribbon.
Dreams And Escapes 
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