Ninoy Aquino: Destined to be a Hero?

By George M. Hizon

The Filipino is worth dying for!

The late great writer Nick Joaquin once said “character is destiny”. If character is destiny, might it also be possible to say that Ninoy Aquino’s fate was his heroic death? Benigno Servillano “Ninoy” Aquino was born on November 27, 1932 to a prominent family in Concepcion, Tarlac. His father was the former Speaker Benigno Aquino Sr. and his mother, Dona Aurora Aquino. His grandfather was Katipunan General Servillano Aquino, a national hero. He was described as a very smart boy but they say he only showed this incredible talent after he graduated from College. He took his primary schooling at the Ateneo de Manila College. He took his first 2 years of High School at La Salle College and his last two years at the San Beda College where he graduated with fair grades. He took College at the Ateneo de Manila College but was not able to finish because of his work at the Manila Times Publishing Co. He was a journalist assigned to cover the Korean War in 1953. Later, he was able to finish College and, took up Law at the University of the Philippines. Again, he was not able to finish Law because he took up another course, Journalism.

The Reluctant Student

In an article, “Ninoy, the Reluctant Student”, from the book “Tales from Edsa stories of the revolution”, the author Neni Sta. Romana recounted the time when Ninoy was posthumously awarded the most outstanding alumnus of San Beda College. Receiving the award was Ballsy Cruz, Ninoy’s eldest daughter. She recalls how Ninoy impressed on his children the value of reading but admits only recently that she discovered that he himself did not have a keen interest in his studies. But Ballsy was still awed and said “although he had nothing spectacular to show as a student and earned no honors, look at how he turned out to be”.

But he was always the youngest

At the age of 17, Ninoy became the youngest correspondent to cover the Korean War for the newspaper, The Manila Times. At 18, he was given the Legion of Honor Award by President Elpidio Quirino for his journalistic feats while covering the Korean War. At 21, he was appointed by President Magsaysay to act as his personal emissary to Luis Taruc, the leader of an insurgent group, Hukbalahap. Taruc surrendered after 4 months of negotiations. At the age of 22, became the country’s youngest mayor when he was elected for that position in Concepcion, Tarlac. At 27, he became the youngest vice-governor, also in Tarlac. At 29, he became the youngest governor and at the age of 34, he made history when he was elected as the youngest Filipino senator in 1967. At the age of 39, Ninoy would have been the youngest elected Philippine president had not been for Martial Law.

Martial Law

President Marcos, after ruling the country for two terms, and wishing to remain in office beyond the two term limit set by the Constitution, declared Martial Law in 1972. Ninoy was one of those who vehemently opposed Martial Law, a defiance that would land him in jail for 7 years and 7 months. 6 months into confinement, he would endure a more cruel form of punishment- solitary confinement. On March 12, 1973, Ninoy, together with Jose “Pepe” Diokno, were transferred from their cell in Fort Bonifacio to Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija. They were kept in separate rooms and stripped of their personal belongings like eyeglasses, watches, wallets and clothes. In his own words, Ninoy describes his stay “I have waited and waited, till the seconds turned into minutes, till the minutes turned into hours, till the hours turned into days, till the days turned into weeks and till the weeks turned into months. This cell is like a living tomb, where even saints are forced to cry because angels grow horns”. Solitary confinement was probably a tactic meant to break Ninoy’s spirit and make him accede to Martial Law. But, it was also Marcos’ way of retaliating for an article leaked from prison and later published by the Bangkok Post. The article contained scathing denunciations of Martial Law authored by Ninoy Aquino. 3 months after, Ninoy and Diokno were flown back to Fort Bonifacio when influential foreign governments intervened. Ninoy would languish in jail for another 6 years until, he suffered near fatal heart attack. Eager to avoid another international incident, Marcos allowed Ninoy to go to the U.S. for surgery on May 20, 1980. In 1981, Martial Law was subsequently lifted.

Heroic Death

By the summer of 1983 Aquino had received word that Marcos was severely ill, perhaps dying, from lupus erythematosus, a disease of the immune system that had already seriously damaged his kidneys. Fearing that a “power vacuum” might occur if Marcos dies unexpectedly, Ninoy decided to go back to the Philippines. While on a short stopover in Malaysia, a “Sultan” friend offered him a safe “backdoor” entry via Mindanao to avoid a possible assassination attempt on his life. Ninoy politely declined the offer saying “it would be cowardice of me not to face up to Marcos”. On August 21, 1983, while he was embarking from his plane at the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport, shots were heard. Two men lay dead and one of them was Ninoy Aquino!

The death of Ninoy Aquino. 8/21/1983. Photo courtesy of Franco Rodrigo Sevilla.

That Day on August, 1983

The month of August was usually a rainy one but during that faithful day when Ninoy was shot, there was no rain. It was also a Sunday, a rest day. Was this the relative calm before the storm? In a few days, the church bells would ring every noon, at 12 o’ clock p.m. and every afternoon, at about 6 o’ clock p.m. This would last up to a month. Was this a sign of greater things to come? Yes, it was. Ninoy Aquino’s death in 1983 signalled the beginning of the end for the Marcos regime. While Marcos might have achieved successes with his Martial Law during its early years, his stay in office was too long; some of his men’s actions were already far excessive. He had to be removed. After 21 years, Marcos was finally ousted by the forces loyal to Cory Aquino, Ninoy’s widow. The date was February 25, 1986. Did all these events (from 1983-86) happen for a reason? Was this a destiny fulfilled for Ninoy Aquino? I think we all know his favorite saying, “the Filipino is worth dying for”!