The Aquino Legacy

Pilit man nilang yurakan, pilit man nilang itsipwera sa kasaysayan, hindi na maaalis sa isip ng isang “freedom-loving Filipino” ang kontribusyon ni Ninoy sa ating buhay.  (I’ve always wanted to write in Tagalog but I am not well-versed with it when it comes to writing, I hope this suffices).

Ninoy, you did not die in vain. Below is a picture of Ninoy’s funeral.

Since  this morning I watched early clips of Ninoy’s videos, mostly his speeches when he was alive, how he dreamed of a better Philippines for all of us. Watching his rapid-fire delivery and eloquence, my heart bleeds for us now.Those who are in the present administration didn’t value what Ninoy sacrificed for and what he did for the country.

“For seven years, I was not allowed to see the moon and the stars. There were days when they left me all alone by myself. I had no reading material. I had nothing. I was twiddling my thumb. I would walk and walk and walk across my room; it was a room about four meters by five meters, hoping that I’ll get tired. And then when I get tired, I would fall asleep, knowing that tomorrow will be the same”.

 

 

I cried when I heard the song Bayan Kong Pilipinas after the  Holy Mass held at Manila Memorial Park which was attended by the family of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, their friends and relatives and all those who’ve been by their side all these years.  Yes, yellow is the color of the day. Yellow is the color of sunshine, hope and happiness. I watched Ex-Pres. PNoy deliver his short but meaningful speech in front of the tombs of his parents.

“My friends do not forget that your readiness to suffer will light the torch of freedom which can never be put out. Do not forget that we who are now in the middle of our years must inspire the youth when they are almost in the brink of despair. Do not forget that the purpose of life is precisely reexamining our being, not merely a floating flotsam in the time, in the floods of time. Do not forget, as Longfellow said that we should never be like driven cattle, but be a hero in the strife”.

 

The youth of today  never witnessed what happened in the past but most of them are now quite aware of it.  Although some of them act indifferently, a lot of them are now actively involved.  Nissa was just ten months old when Ninoy died.

And this quote is my favorite:

“I have weighed all the virtues and faults of the Filipinos and I have come to the conclusion that the Filipino is worth dying for”.

 

I am just a small voice but my fervent wish is for the Philippines’ freedom from corruption, weak leaders and dictators.

LABAN.

 

 

 

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Tie A Yellow Ribbon

Image from Google

Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree

I’m comin’ home, I’ve done my time
Now I’ve got to know what is and isn’t mine
If you received my letter telling you I’d soon be free
Then you’ll know just what to do
If you still want me, if you still want me

Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon ’round the ole oak tree
It’s been three long years, do you still want me?
If I don’t see a ribbon round the ole oak tree
I’ll stay on the bus, forget about us, put the blame on me
If I don’t see a yellow ribbon ’round the ole oak tree

Bus driver, please look for me
‘Cause I couldn’t bear to see what I might see
I’m really still in prison and my love, she holds the key
A simple yellow ribbon’s what I need to set me free
And I wrote and told her please

Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon ’round the ole oak tree
It’s been…

Tomorrow,  is Ninoy Aquino Day. Ninoy Aquino Day is a national non-working holiday in the Philippines observed annually on August 21, commemorating the assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. 

For so many times since I started blogging and every time this holiday is held I blog  about it. I remember the day Ninoy died at the airport tarmac  when he alighted from the plane going home to the Philippines, the Philippine president that never was.  I  am sure tomorrow there would be more tribute to Ninoy. I couldn’t remember now why the yellow ribbon was chosen to remember Ninoy. Back in those days, we rejoiced seeing people in a sea of yellow.

Every time I hear this particular song, I remember my Mom singing and dancing while swaying either Nissa or my nephew Anthony.  Back in those days, they were just toddlers. I smile at the thought of remembrance. Mom at her age now, no longer remembers probably  but I still do.

Tomorrow is another celebration of a yellow day. 

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It’s Ninoy Aquino Day

“The Filipino is worth dying for.”

Proclamation 1081 (Martial Law) was signed by then Pres. Marcos on September 21, 972. I was in high school.  Ninoy Aquino was assassinated on August 21, 1983 (31 years ago today), I was a young mother then with an eleven-month old daughter.  February 25, 1986 was the highlight of the return to democracy when Marcos and his family left Malacanang Palace for good after more than two decades of governing the land.

Watching the two-hour documentary today on the assassination of Ninoy  and the presidency of Cory Aquino made me remember the dark days of Philippine history. I remember the  bloody student demonstrations and rallies  before martial law was declared. I remember the day when we could not even listen to news because radio and television channels were closed. The glorious days of a dictator just started, the ambitious dream of a man to rule by military power. He incarcerated his enemies including Ninoy Aquino, the man who could have been the greatest president of the Republic of the Philippines, the only powerful enemy that Marcos had. I watched the documentary with my son who kept asking questions what life was like during the martial law years and how the Filipino people were affected by Ninoy’s death. I wrote a blog about this before.

Prior to what we know now in history as the People Power Revolution, I was part of the crowd at Ayala Avenue throwing confetti and yellow flowers made of crepe paper every time there was a rally scheduled in Makati. Bank of PI  (located at Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas) was at the center of those rallies and demonstration since the stage’s set-up was always facing our office building.  Now, that area is occupied by a statue of Ninoy Aquino, a tribute to a hero.I remember collecting issues of the tabloid Malaya which was the only newspaper having regular reports of the assassination and how people reacted to it. I remember keeping a copy of a newspaper when the Marcos family left Malacanang to be exiled later in Hawaii. It was the day that ended a dictatorship.

Ah, those moments of happy celebration when all Ayala employees and their subsidiaries joined the merry dance at Ayala Avenue led by our big boss, Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala. You can just imagine people in corporate attires  dancing to the tune of Tie a Yellow Ribbon and laughing  out loud – the days when democracy was truly restored in our land.

He said, ” I believe that the Filipino will respond to the call to greatness not by coercion but by persuasion, not by intimidation but through the ways of freedom”. May his  legacy live on and may the youth of today appreciate and remember what he did for our country.

Ninoy Aquino, my own personal hero.

 

 

Photo courtesy of ayalatriangle.com

 

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The Aquino Grandchildren and My Own Memories of Ninoy

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.

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