Yellow ribbons for Ninoy’s 20th year Streets in Metro Manila will be decorated with yellow ribbons for all of next week starting on Monday to commemorate the 20th death anniversary of the late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., the organizing committee said Wednesday. Loretta Lina, executive director of the EDSA People Power Commission, said that Metro Manila will turn yellow during the affair, dubbed “Remembering Ninoy,” to be held from August 18 to 21. “All freedom-loving Filipinos are invited to participate in any of the following activities to honor the great martyr of the nation,” Lina said, adding that the death of Aquino will be commemorated nationwide. The EDSA commission members expressed hope that the activities will help leaders of the country and the new generation to remember the great sacrifice done by Ninoy for the country to achieve democracy. Victoria Garchitorena, commission cochairman, said the recent coup attempt is different from the military uprising which was supported by the people fighting martial law and the dictatorship of then President Ferdinand Marcos. “We suffered extremely, suffered for our freedom. The situation before [compared to] now is really different,” Garchitorena said. The commission said the coup plotters against Marcos should not take sole credit for the ouster of the dictator because the EDSA revolt succeeded with the support of the people. Members of the commission warned the people that such democracy achieved now should be protected for “the price of democracy is ‘eternal vigilance.’” Although
President Arroyo declared August 22 a public holiday to commemorate
Aquino’s death anniversary, the commission said there will be a
nationwide celebration after officials from other regions already
extended their support by displaying yellow ribbons in their plazas
and streets on August 18.
Stop
too much politics - GMA
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday urged Filipinos, especially the opposition party, to refrain from engaging in too much partisan politics which, she said, has further aggravated the difficulties of the nation. The President made the call as she joined the nation in observing the 20th death anniversary of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., whose martyrdom inspired a peaceful popular uprising that ended the 20-year rule of President Ferdinand Marcos in the country. "It is high time for our nation to break away from excessive preoccupation with politics and to consolidate our energies towards the indispensable tasks of public order and development," Arroyo said in a press statement. "Partisan politics is aggravating the already steep difficulties of our people. I ask them to resist being distracted away from the focus on poverty, terrorism, crime and corruption - to which the government is devoting its undivided attention," she said. The Arroyo administration blamed excessive partisan politics for the latest attacks on the President's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, who has been accused of laundering some P270 million in campaign funds of the administration party. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a staunch critic of the Arroyo administration, had charged that accounts in the millions of pesos were in the names of "Jose Pidal," who, he said, was Arroyo, and several other persons, including the First Gentleman's personal secretary and accountant. The government has also blamed some opposition leaders for the July 27 failed coup by some young officers and men who demanded the resignation of the President, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, and some military and police officials. "We must strengthen the ramparts of political stability that were shattered by the Oakwood incident through the instruments of justice and reform," the President said. The government has charged before a civilian civilia and a special court martial the rebel military officers and soldiers who stationed themselves at the Oakwood Hotel on July 27. It is also running after the alleged mastermind, presidential aspirant Senator Gregorio B. Honasan, and other suspected benefactors and financiers of the July 27 mutiny. The President called on the public to rally behind the government to help rebuild the country's battered economy and stabilize the socio-political situation. "Confidence in the economy has to be sustained through an effort on the part of each and every Filipino to productively contribute to the fundamental tasks of nation building. Enough of the politics of ruin and stagnation," she said.President Macapagal Arroyo yesterday said she draws inspiration from the first People Power president, former President Corazon Aquino, on how to hurdle the nation's problems, including surviving the recent coup attempt. The President said she considers Aquino, the wife of the slain senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and who had survived several coup attempts during her term, her role model mainly for her experiences as the first female President of the country. Arroyo, wearing a yellow shirt, joined the Aquino family in the commemoration of the 20th death anniversary of the senator at the Manila Memorial Park. The President, Mrs. Aquino and the latler's successor Fidel Ramos later attended a confetti tribute and a gathering in Makati City. Following the mass at the tomb of Aquino, Arroyo and Aquino sat for a live interview over ABS-CBN 2's "Morning Girls" with Korina Sanchez and Kris Aquino. In the face of challenging problems apparently including the short-lived July 27 rebellion, Arroyo admitted she emulates Aquino's strong faith in God when she faced the same predicament. Both female leaders are devout Catholics. Arroyo said she remembers Aquino's advice to do what is right and put trust in the Lord. "I derive my inspiration from that," she said. The two female leaders also asserted they were proven stronger than their male predecessors, who were both ousted by popular revolts due to corruption. Aquino said she remained in office despite seven failed coup attempts against her administration. "Hindi naming sinasabi na mas magaling kami pero siguro kasing-galing man lamang ano at mas malaki ang aming pananampalataya," the former president said in the interview. In Makati CityPresident
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Makati City Mayor Jejomar C. Binay
yesterday led some 2,000 to 3,000 marchers in a "salubungan"
(meeting) at Ayala Ave. marking the 20th death anniversary of former
Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino. The
meeting was held in front of the Ninoy Aquino statue on Paseo de
Roxas and Ayala Ave. in the heart of the city's central business
district. It
was preceded by separate marches of the groups of President Arroyo
and Mayor Binay and culminated in a wreath-laying rites for the
slain senator. With President Arroyo in the march that started at the corner of Ayala and Gil Puyat Avenues were former Presidents Corazon C. Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos, officials of the Ayala Corp., some members and employes of the Cabinet. In the Binay-led march were Vice Mayor Emesto Marcado; Makati City Representatives Agapito "Butz" Aquino, Ninoy's younger brother, and Teodoro Locsin, other members of the August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) and the PDP-Laban, residents, and representatives and members of various non-government organizations. It was the first time that the salubungan was held in the city to pay tribute to Ninoy and a people's revolution that ended years of authoritarian rule in the country. (Felix Mediavillo) OretaSen. Teresa Aquino Oreta urged the people yesterday to be vigilant against all threats to civil liberties and systematic maneuvers by the government to drift back to the "garrison state" which her eldest brother, martyred Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, had warned of three decades ago. Oreta, Ninoy's youngest sister, said that for the Arroyo administration, remembering her brother's martyrdom today would have been more significant had it been marked by genuine efforts towards unity and reconciliation that Ninoy had hoped for when he decided to return to the country 20 years ago despite grave threats to his life and liberty. But sadly, Oreta said, Malacañang has made a mockery of Ninoy's ideals by sliding towards a garrison state which the Arroyo administration seems to have mimicked just weeks before the nation marked the 20th anniversary of Ninoy's death. "As we remember Ninoy's martyrdom, let us all pause and seek Divine Providence to give us the courage and strength to remain vigilant, to defend our freedoms and liberties, so that no garrison state will ever descend upon our land now or in the future," Oreta said. In a privilege speech delivered on the eve of Ninoy's death anniversary, Oreta said that 20 years after Ninoy was assassinated at the then Manila International Airport, the Philippines appears gradually sliding back to the dark era that her brother warned about 30 years ago. The said Ninoy's warning was initially greeted by widespread public skepticism but later proven correct with the 1972 declaration of martial law. In PampangaSAN FERNANDO City, Pampanga - This province joined the nation commemorate the 20th death anniversary yesterday of the great Kapampangan martyr, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., with ceremonies at the provincial capitol here. Gov. Lito Lapid led other government officials and civic leaders in the observance of Ninoy's death anniversary with a wreathlaying ceremony. The observance coincided with the 48th birth anniversary of Lapid. Filmer Abrajano, provincial legal officer, said in his brief remarks that Ninoy's death sparked the EDSA revolution and changed the destiny of the nation. "The
senator's death led to the greatest Filipino moment - the fall of
the Marcos dictatorship and martial law in the country," he
said. Lapid
said Aquino's martyrdom "will always be reminded as the great
moment in our history when the Filipinos were honored, respected,
and envied around the world." (Fred Roxas) Ninoy honored with int'l commemorative coin The late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. will be honored with a newly minted commemorative gold coin by Meyer’s Mint of Germany as commissioned by Gold Quest International on the 20th anniversary of his martyrdom. To be launched on August 19, the commemorative gold coin is the sixth in the premiere series of Gold Quest International’s “Champions for Peace.” The series honors men and women who have made valuable contributions to world peace and human development. The other “Champions for Peace” are Pope John Paul II, Mahatma Gandhi, Princess Diana, John F. Kennedy and Mother Teresa. Former President Corazon C. Aquino will receive the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. commemorative gold coin from Bernhard Meyer, B.H. Meyer’s Mint chairman and Gold Quest International Network Development director; Joseph Bismark, who will arrive for the launch; and Christopher Carrion, founding chairman of the Spirit of edsa Foundation, the local partner for the project. Aquino was honored for his aspirations for freedom and peace, which inspired the Filipinos to seek and act toward attaining democracy. At an age when most young men had nothing more in their minds than getting by in school, he was already a two-time recipient of the Philippine Legion of Honor, the highest honor accorded to civilians by the Philippine government. At 17, he was a foreign correspondent for The Manila Times reporting on the Korean War. He rose meteorically through sheer brilliance and charisma in the national political scene, becoming the youngest mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac, the youngest vice governor of the province and youngest senator. He won a Ten Outstanding Young Men award for public service and was on his way to becoming Ferdinand Marcos’s successor as president when he was imprisoned when martial law was declared. For seven and a half years he was incarcerated but he was never cowed by the dictatorship. He made peace, particularly to his countrymen, his special quest and believed that his beloved country could be freed from the shackles of martial law through peaceful means. His murder at the airport tarmac at the hands of government soldiers, which came just as he was going home to seek peace and freedom for his people, awoke the country from years of apathy and fear.
Kris Aquino: Danding innocent in Ninoy slay Twenty years after her father died, Kris Aquino believes that her uncle Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco was not in any way involved in the assassination of Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino. "I don't believe he is capable of that [killing Ninoy]," Aquino said about his uncle, a business tycoon and ambassador during the Marcos presidency. "Blood is thicker than politics," said Aquino at the press conference of movie Mano Po 2 on Monday. The TV host said Cojuangco, long considered by many as a Marcos crony, was even helpful to her family when the senator was exiled in the United States, Kris said. She recalled that Cojuangco helped in paying for the mortgage of their Boston house. Aquino added that she is no longer interested in knowing the mastermind behind his dad's death. "What for, patay na lahat sila!" said Aquino. If the former senator were alive today, Aquino said she believes he would be proud of her achievements. She, however, said he would also tell her to patch things up with her brother, Tarlac Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. "[Maybe he'd tell me "Huwag mo nang dagdagan ang sakit ng ulo ng nanay mo at mag-ayos na kayo ni Noynoy," the youngest of the Aquino children said.
Cory
sends Estrada a gift JOSEPH
Estrada's critics may cringe at hearing him compare himself to the
late Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., but it appears that the
ex-senator's widow is partly responsible for putting such ideas in his
head.
Aquino,
Diokno prison cells
FORT MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija --
"Let this shrine be a memorial to life, not death; peace, not
war; and faith in the Filipino, not in the United States." The
shrine was the reconstructed detention cell of Diokno and murdered
Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. at the Army camp here. The building used to be
the Philippine Army's intelligence service office, and is located
about 150 meters from the camp's main gate.
Statement
of the President on Ninoy's The
death of Ninoy Aquino 19 years ago was a historical event in our
nationhood. It breathed life to the restoration of Philippine democracy
after a dark period of dictatorship.
19
years after, Aquino Yearly
'confidential messages' The
mysterious sender claimed knowing "what really happened" on
the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983,
according to the fallen leader's only son, Tarlac Representative Benigno
Aquino III.
Unending sacrifice WE
were all born, again, on Aug. 21. Ninoy’s
wedding ring pawned at THE GOLD wedding band of the late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., stolen from the Aquino Center in Tarlac City over the Holy Week, has been recovered by police in a pawnshop in Tarlac City, a spokesman for former President Corazon Aquino said. The ring was pawned for P1,800. "I am very happy that the ring, which carries great sentimental value to me, has been recovered," former Press Undersecretary Deedee Siytangco quoted Mrs. Aquino as saying. "I laud the Central Luzon police and the National Bureau of Investigation for its recovery." But the former president also expressed sadness that the theft was carried out by a trusted security guard of the Aquino Center, located inside the Hacienda Luisita in San Miguel, Tarlac. The ring was found to have had been pawned with the Villarica Pawnshop. Siytangco
said Central Luzon Police chief Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya
reported to Mrs. Aquino that the Aquino-Reagan commemorative gold coin,
which was stolen along with the ring, has also been recovered. According
to sketchy reports, it ended up with a Makati-based coin collector.
The coin marked the
September 1986 official visit to the White House of Mrs. Aquino. It was
on display at a different section Ninoy’s wedding ring, along with his eyeglasses, his leather boots and broken rosary, was turned over to his family when they claimed his body at the Fort Bonifacio Hospital morgue hours after he was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983. The ring remained in his widow’s safekeeping until it was displayed in a glass-encased stand in the Aquino Center. The Center, patterned after the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library and Museum in Boston, was inaugurated in September last year. It houses memorabilia of the late senator, whose assassination sparked a series of non-violent protests that led to the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. Mementos of Ninoy’s wife Corazon’s presidency are also displayed in the Aquino Center. Ninoy
Aquino bust "IT'S
good to know that he has yet to be forgotten," said former
President Corazon Aquino as she unveiled on Monday another monument to
her martyred husband, Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., at the
international airport that bears his name.
Not
Just Speeches, Wreaths for Ninoy Beyond the usual speeches and the rites of wreath-laying, Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was much-remembered Tuesday on his 18th death anniversary with a living memorial and plans for a shrine to be named after him. The Aquino Center which also serves as the repository of the presidential papers of his widow, former President Corazon Aquino, was inaugurated at the Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac City. In Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, plans are underway to convert the Military Security Detachment (MSD) compound where Aquino was held in solitary confinement for 30 days into a shrine. Aquino, together with Sen. Jose W. Diokno, was spirited out of Fort Bonifacio in Makati where they had been confined, and flown to Fort Magsaysay to isolate them from their supporters in Metro Manila, according to Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, chief of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division. Aquino’s confinement at the MSD was a turning point in his seven years and seven months of imprisonment during the martial rule of Ferdinand Marcos. Where he was once treated like a criminal at the MSD, it honored him by documenting his and Diokno’s ordeal in Fort Mag, the Army division’s official publication. The two prisoners were separated into adjacent cells and barred from talking with or seeing each other. They were not provided clothes other than a pair of white T-shirts, trousers and undershirt. Fort Mag said the “lights were never switched off and they were not allowed to wear wristwatches to deny them any idea of time. All windows were closed and there was little ventilation. The only occasion when they were allowed to get out of their rooms is in going to the comfort room.” Aquino’s wife, Cory, who visited Fort Magsaysay three times, was the only link of the two prominent prisoners to the anti-Marcos movement. Ms Aquino, who led the inaugural rites of the Aquino Center, said Filipinos were “still in the process of strengthening democracy and we have to work very hard.” The center, she said, would “inspire Filipinos to make democracy work.” “Young men and women who do not know Ninoy will benefit from the center. They will learn about the sacrifices of Ninoy during martial law until his death and of the Filipinos during the first People Power.” The Aquino Center’s main attraction is the museum that contains not only photographs and documents but also Aquino’s bloodstained white shirt, black leather boots, typewriter and wristwatches. Aquino was wearing a white jumpsuit when he was gunned down at the tarmac of the old Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983. The airport was renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport to honor his heroism. Bloodstains At the very spot where he fell, his youngest sister, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, and brother, Rep. Agapito “Butz” Aquino, led the Mass said for Aquino. “When he died, we were polarized and then joined forces. He was the uniting factor. Now we’re back to polarization,” Oreta said referring to the animosities between the forces that swept President Macapagal-Arroyo to power and those that remain loyal to ousted President Estrada. Perceived as an Estrada ally, Oreta said that her late brother would have been “proud of me because I stuck to what I believed in. I really believe in what I was doing,” Oreta said in her remarks. “What if he were alive today? I think he would die a broken-hearted man. Because the country that he loved so much is very polarized. There is so much bickering,” Oreta said.
Ms Aquino said that the family, during her husband’s wake in 1983, refused to have the bloodstains on his face and his shirt removed to remind the world of the brutality of the martial law regime. Located about 500 meters from the LIP’s main entrance in Barangay San Miguel here, the Aquino Center, a U-shaped structure with a manicured lawn at the center, houses the memorabilia, rare photographs, copies of speeches, other documents and personal belongings of Aquino. The museum is divided into four chambers. The first chamber contains Aquino’s photos and memorabilia from 1950 to 1971 or before the declaration of martial law by Marcos. The second houses materials about Aquino’s arrest, exile and assassination (1972-1983). In this chamber may be found the Aquino memoirs about his incarceration at MSD where he wrote, “he was able to talk to God, that gave me the strength and spirit to fight for the Filipino people, to forget my political career and personal ambitions but to pursue a mission -- to unify the people and attain their quest for struggle, progress and democracy.” Adolf Azcuna, Ms Aquino’s executive secretary and legal counsel during her presidency, said the museum “kindles the fire, the dream of Ninoy,” he said. The third and fourth chambers cover Ms Aquino’s rise to power until the end of her term in 1992. The museum is located on the right wing of the center. Also on the right wing are function rooms for seminars and training, an audio-visual room, a landmark tower and a chapel. On the left wing are the Ninoy Aquino Library, more function rooms and the ballroom. Rapa Lopa, the Aquino Center’s executive director, said the library was still empty but “will contain Ninoy and Cory’s book collections as well as other materials about People Power.” The library would also have Internet access, he said. The center also houses the Institute for People Power and Development “to continue whatever is not yet finished by institutionalizing People Power,” Lopa said. The center was built through a fund-raising campaign led by Ms Aquino when she stepped down in 1992, Lopa explained. Nobility of race “As (Ms Aquino) goes out and talks about what she’s doing, (she usually gets honoraria which she donates to the Ninoy Aquino Foundation),” he said. He said Ms Aquino also donated the prize money that she won in the Ramon Magsaysay Award to the construction of the center. Lopa said donations also came from individuals and groups abroad like the Hans Seidel Foundation of Germany. Aside from Azcuna, those who graced the Aquino Center opening were former Public Works Secretary Jose de Jesus, former Government Service Insurance System president Cesar Sarino, former National Economic and Development Authority director general Cayetano Paderanga, former Environment Secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr. and Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. In Manila, Mayor Lito Atienza, Rep. Agapito “Butz” Aquino and former Sen. Neptali Gonzales Jr. led ceremonies marking the Aquino anniversary. City politicians and guests offered wreaths and made speeches at his statue on the corner of P. Burgos Street and A. Bonifacio Drive in Intramuros early yesterday morning. The mayor said that even if Aquino led the struggle for the restoration of freedom and democracy in the country, “he also had a vision of a prosperous and peaceful Philippines where every Filipino would have the opportunity to live a decent life.” Gonzales recounted the anguish that most Filipinos felt in 1983 when they learned of Aquino’s murder, recalling that what was supposed to be a joyful homecoming march was transformed into a funeral procession. “He is one of the greatest men in our generation and the image of the nobility of our race,” he said. “He never surrendered his principles as he led the opposition in fighting for freedom, steadfast in his convictions even in the face of certain death.” With a report from Jerome Aning
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