Remember Ninoy--the militant one

this is what I saw back then on August 21, 1983

I was just twelve years old when scenes of Ninoy Aquino's assassination at the tarmac flashed before my eyes. I remember that vividly---me and my grandmother at the sala, watching the RPN 9 telecast of violence that happened at the airport in our black and white television set. 


I remember that immortal ten second exposure of a man wearing a white suit, his body slumped at the tarmac, bloodied, while an AVECOM member tried to lift him up. And like every boy across the country, I asked my nanay who's that man who was just killed at the airport? Was he a terrorist? Was he an NPA?


My nanay, trying to hold back her tears, said, " Richard, it was democracy that you saw killed today". And then I saw her one finger motioning to me to keep my silence. 

I did'nt understand. What is democracy and what are the ties of this man to democracy? We were living in a democracy at that time, coz there's no more soldiers or cops manning the streets, no more curfews for us and definitely, there were a rise of publications criticing the Big man (Macoy) and there were movies shown which criticized our way of life.


The only thing that was too difficult for me to understand back then was why ban Mazinger-Z? Just because the rocket launchers of the robot were shaped like Madonna's signature boobs outfit? People cried "censorship". I thought it was just stupidity and a dirty mind. And then there was a ban on all robot shows, including Voltes-V. Why? Why ban my favorite 6 o'clock show over at GMA 7 and RPN 9? Was it because Voltes-V talked about unity against those who oppress and threatened democracy, just like those monsters sent by the aliens?


Then photos of the slain man just suddenly propped up in our home. That man, whom my nanay described as "democracy", was a bespectacled fiftish man, who looked every bit a politico but something in him tells me he's different. His name was being mentioned in every part of our community. And then I saw his photo. There's a different glow in him, as if he's someone very special. 

Two souls who sought for the
people's welfare, never their own

I listened to those talks. Those talks were varied. Some say he's a rich guy who wanted to topple Macoy. Reports of human rights violations abound and he's the guy who wanted nothing more than to end those violations. Nothing wrong, I say, since people were dying by the scores in the countrysides, and even in our community. 


And then, there were those long rallies which some people organized in our communities. They went to our plaza and spoke there of the need to organize people, unify people to fight for justice. 


And then, calls for the ouster of the Big man were heard, loud and clear. Even in our communities, people started wearing yellow arm bands, even my titos and titas. 


I just thought---why all the fuss? That was a murder, plain and simple. Those who shot and probably killed Ninoy were arrested. What more do they want? They want Macoy's head. Why? I was informed that Macoy and Ninoy were fraternity brothers. What in the hell happened that made them vicious enemies?

Macoy could not have ordered the killing, I thought. He's so high up, and it's quite obvious. He's an intelligent guy. He knows that if he gives the order to kill Ninoy, he'll be blamed. Actually, it's in his best interest to safekeep him, knowing full well, that he'll be creating a tempest if this man is killed. 


Maybe Imelda? Several people who went to our house, those who looked like hippies and those who looked like they need a bath, animately shared their own conspiracy stories with me and my family. What the hell, I thought. If the government really ordered the killing, then, someday, they'll reap what they so sowed.


Then Ninoy's wife appeared and all hell broke loose. People shouted her name in the streets. Then Macoy ordered an election. The election saw him winning against the opposition, Macoy a million, opposition zero. It was just loop-sided.


Then, a mutiny occured. My family took part in the throng of people who willed to die just to give justice to this man. When the Macoys left, we went back to our homes, while other people ransacked the palace.


Eventually, that ransacking of the palace continues up to the present day, a sordid reminder of what kind of democratic viewpoint died that day, 1983, in Manila.

I belonged to a generation who do not really got what kind of democracy Ninoy wanted when he was still alive. 


I belonged to a generation which do not really know what economic policies Ninoy wanted more to implement to get things going. 


And I belonged to a generation who really do not know Ninoy except from the propaganda played upon by his relatives and those who benefitted from his death, shortly after the fall of Marcos.


What I saw during these past few years shortly after the dictatorship was the rule of a revived elite, a democracy of pseudo-democrats, who think of government as his big turf, with billions of pesos waiting to be converted into his own money. 


What I saw during the time those who thirsted for Macoy's blood and justice for Ninoy ruled this country was a messed-up democracy, every single one in government thinking and acting like petty thieves, err, chiefs, and using the law as a springboard for personal aggrandizement and riches.


And what I saw was a revival of the fiftish liberal Manila, dominated by Big Business, high prices of goods and commodities, weak people's organisations, feeble shouts of opposition and oppression, and of a military who thinks of serving itself rather than the people.


Ninoy's vision of a prosperous Philippines never made it to base one. It died the minute that bullet reached his head and killed his soul. 


Those who watched him die, and those who militated against his death and shouted for justice, never really did him justice anyway. When it was their time to rule this land, they themselves became petty monsters and dictators, the very same mold that they despised but desired in their hearts.


The mismanagement of our affairs, the continued tyranny of the few, the domination of Big Corporate interests, the continued oppression of the weak and the powerless, and the feeble minded concern of the self-absorbed middle class, who thinks of giving back what they stole, this is the kind of democracy those who demanded for justice for Ninoy built shortly after his death. 


They never really built what Ninoy had wanted---a democracy for the poor and the oppressed, a democracy whose foundations are the people's welfare, and those who serve, serve under the people's pleasure and those who lead, lead with a vision of prosperity to all. 


The people, just like Ninoy, wanted nothing more than live a better life, a life where they eat thrice a day and they enjoy the trappings of democracy by living in an environment where everybody treat everybody as equals. 


They who claim to really know Ninoy, encouraged nepotism and brought to life, the very same evils they so claim to have exorcised shortly after EDSA One. They, who claim to know Ninoy, did the very same evils Ninoy had sought to kill when he arrived in that fateful day of August 21, 1983.


Ninoy's ideals are not as petty as painting the town yellow with his armbands or t-shirts. No. Ninoy's ideals and those of Cory, are not as petty as weekly marathons to give pittance to the poor or CSR's that comfort the affected consciences of the rich who robbed the poor and tried to give back what they stole.


The Ninoy we see today is the Ninoy those who benefit from this government wanted us to see, but never the true Ninoy, the real one which died in that tarmac and resurrected as a spirit in February of 1986. 

The Ninoy in Boston--the one that still
struggles towards true understanding

The spirit of Ninoy lives, but not in the hearts of those who claim to know him and continues to do the very same evils Ninoy fought for all his life---the evils of graft and corruption, of nepotism, of immorality, of violations of human rights, of 


The spirit of Ninoy is not that shown in 500 peso bills given to the poor by the government as pantawid buhay. No. Ninoy is not a dole out.


Ninoy was a militant. Ninoy was a visionary. Ninoy had the true concern for the poor and the powerless and the weak. 


That was the Ninoy we saw when he first announced his conversion in Boston. He was never really telling us of a political future for him---no. Maybe had he lived, and EDSA uno happened, he will shun any position to be offered to him. 


Ninoy's conversion was a sincere transformation from a trapo to a true Politico, in the Greek sense of the word. A politico whose life is dedicated to service without rank, nor position. 


Ninoy fought against the bureaucracy, the very same monster that lives on today. He sought for its transformation, the death of its fleshy self to a self that is worthy of its founding. 


Let the Ninoy, the true one, live in our hearts forevermore and let the servants of the People, those who really entered the service with the passion of being a true follower of Ninoy, always remember what he lived and died for. 


Ninoy died for us, the poor and the oppressed, so that we may live.