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Ninoy Aquino - compelling
and relevant
On the 20th anniversary
of the Martyrdom of Ninoy Aquino
19 August 2003 , Manila Peninsula , Makati City
August 21, 2003 , The Philippine Star, page 14
It does seem unfortunate that after 20 years after
his martyrdom, the cause of which he died is still
very much alive.
Ninoy Aquino is our martyr for constitutional democracy
and peace. After seven years of incarceration and
three years of exile he was going home seeking to
restore our democratic and constitutional processes
through a peaceful dialogue with the strongman Ferdinand
Edralin Marcos.
Six months before his homecoming we moved together
visiting Filipino communities and Filipino freedom
organizations from the West Coast to the East Coast
of the United States of America talking to officers
and friends of our movement on his planned homecoming.
The overwhelming consensus was a warning that he
would be killed and he should not go home.
In Los Angeles where we sat down with the officers
of the Movement for a Free Philippines, later to
become the Ninoy Aquino Movement for Freedom and
Democracy, the advise was unanimous -- do not go
home for the dictator and his cohorts will execute
you .
But he was confident that given the chance he could
talked Marcos into restoring our constitutional
democracy: "You took us out from where we were,
take us back to the rule of law and freedom and
history and our people will honor you." He
was confident that Marcos would be convicted.
And yet, he came home with a bullet-proof vest for
deep in his heart and his mind he knew that he was
dealing with a desperate regime whose time was running
out.
Twenty years ago that martyrdom inflamed our people's
conscience and we were brought back, almost without
violence, our constitutional democracy. But are
we ever going to achieve peace?
Ninoy sought to restore our democracy and freedom
peacefully. When militants of the Light A Fire Movement
in the US conferred with him, and I was there, he
counseled: "You cannot build the nation from
the bones of our young people."
Today, two decades after his death, amidst terrorism,
threatened violence, civil strife and rebellion
within our community, the martyrdom of Ninoy Aquino
calling for peace and non-violence has become even
more compelling.
When we celebrate his martyrdom years from now,
will Ninoy Aquino's call for peace and non-violence
be even more relevant and compelling?
The irony is that when a martyrdom like Ninoy's
become relevant and compelling, his message of peaceful
change, his martyrdom had been ignored and put to
waste. For when a martyr like a prophet is heeded
by his people he becomes irrelevant. His call for
peace has been achieved and becomes a way of life
of the community.
I hope that years from now -- a year from now --
we could celebrate the martyrdom of Ninoy only to
honor a committed soul, a prescient political leader,
although the cause of peace for which he died is
no more compelling and no more relevant.
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