The People remember Ninoy's sacrifice--his friends only remember how they benefited from his death

Every August 21, we are reminded of an injustice that happened in 1983, a gruesome murder that remains unresolved. A man in white lie slumped in a pool of blood, side by side with another man, whom history says was also killed and served as fall guy. That man in white, was no other than Ninoy Aquino.

I was just a teenager when I saw those iconic scenes being flashed on our black and white television. I remember those scenes being repeated every so often in GMA 7 and RPN 9. I also remember the brother of the slain man, announcing the death of his brother before a throng of people who were there, waiting at the airport.

The slain man was then brought to a funeral parlor. He was put in a coffin, still wearing the white shirt he wore when he was slain, all bloodied up. A huge crowd of people then lined themselves up and saw how this man was violated. In no time, a kilometer stretch line of people braved the rains and went to La Salle to view the remains of a man, someone described as " the greatest president we never had".

After a few days, that man was then brought outside and millions attended his funeral. Ferdinand Marcos who was then the president of this country probably thought that as soon as this man was buried, all memory of that fateful August 21 would be buried along with him.

He was wrong. Those iconic scenes were remembered. That bloodied shirt symbolized a sacrifice. That man's blood that watered the land he so loved, fed the million flowers than bloomed during that day of darkness.

Unknown to many, August 21 will always remain relevant in our history because twelve years before this man's death, that date was a scene of carnage, as this man's political allies were killed and injured when a bomb went off at Plaza Miranda.

That Plaza Miranda incident eventually led to a declaration of Martial Law. As History would show, the sacrifice that this man undertook before the Altar of the Motherland led to a liberation of millions from the hands of tyranny.

Now, we remember his sacrifice, but not the continued tyranny that this man's friends and political allies continually give against the very same people that this man sacrificed his life to.

Unknown to this man, his sacrifice did not lead to the fulfilment of his dream of giving every Filipino his due--a more improved life.

After his sacrifice and after people ousted the alleged man who ordered his killing, a society of men continually hold this society hostage with their power and their influence.

These men use the ruse of democracy in order to enrich themselves. They use the very laws they created to defraud the Filipino People of their hard-earned monies which they contribute to the public coffers.

Widespread and high-profile thievery, all in the name of democracy.

The people will always remember this man's sacrifice. His friends, however, do not. They only remember how this man gave them the license to rob the public coffers. They remember how this man led to the resurrection of political dynasties which these men now benefit from.

Ninoy's sacrifice, these men always invoke. Do they value it? No.

Imagine...

A former struggling human rights lawyer now dreams of becoming president, but not after edging his daughter to run as senator, and his son as mayor and another daughter, Congressman. From 1986 up to the present, this man established a political syndicate that stifled the rights of others to contest him during elections.

The slain man's relatives continue to benefit from this man's sacrifice. One used the monies of coconut farmers to get shares from a company. Another used it to manage a company that supplies coals to power plants.

Every single industry was dismantled and sold to the highest bidder. What happened was after his sacrifice, we now live in a brutish society, being managed by a few greedy men who are not ashamed of defrauding the People of billions of their hard-earned monies.

It is time to make another sacrifice.