Amidst Attempts at Revising History: Remembering Ninoy Aquino’s Martyrdom

 

“THE FILIPINO is worth dying for.”

Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.’s words still resonate in the hearts and minds of the Filipino people more than three decades after his death.

Returning to the Philippines on August 21, 1983 from a three-year exile in the United States, Aquino was assassinated on the tarmac of the Manila International Airport minutes after his arrival.

Democracy in the country had died long before the assassination, but it was his death that sparked the People Power revolution of 1986 which ended President Ferdinand Marcos’ 21-year totalitarian rule.

On Aquino’s 35^th death anniversary, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos told their family’s critics to “move on.” She said that millennials have already moved on, and so should the people of her generation. (“Imee to Marcos family critics: ‘Move on’ from Martial Law”)

The Marcoses and their allies are trying to rewrite history as part of their attempt to regain power. Their apologists celebrate the mythical economic boom during the Marcos regime to conceal the extra-judicial killings, human rights abuses, suppression of free expression and press freedom, cronyism and rampant corruption of the dictatorship.

Leading newspapers and primetime TV newscasts observed the milestone with special features and coverage, countering the attempt to revise the role of Aquino in national history.

CMFR monitored the Manila broadsheets Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star and the Manila Bulletin, the primetime newscasts ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol, GMA 7’s 24 Oras, TV5’s Aksyon and CNN Philippines’ News Night, from August 21 to 27.

Recalling 1983

The media recalled the events that transpired during the two decades when Marcos was president and dictator.

Most of their reports recalled how Ninoy Aquino Day was commemorated across the nation through events like the wreath-laying ceremony at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the visit by one reporter to the Aquino Center and Museum in Tarlac City. The news also highlighted the mass at the Manila Memorial Park where Aquino was laid to rest, and in Sto. Domingo church where his wake was held 35 years ago.

But CHEERS to those reports and opinion pieces that went beyond event reporting and instead looked into Aquino’s death and its role in the restoration of democracy, having ignited massive protests which led to the events of the February 1986.

The most notable were CNN Philippines’ The Story of the Filipino and TV Patrol’s two-part special report on August 21 and 22 that looked into the controversies surrounding Aquino’s death. (“The Story of the Filipino: Ninoy Aquino,” “TV Patrol: 35 taon matapos ang Ninoy slay: ‘Gunman’ nais linisin ang pangalan“)

What they lacked in their news columns, the broadsheets made up for in their Op-Ed pages. Both the Inquirer and The Star published editorials on August 21 on the meaning of Ninoy Aquino’s assassination.

The Inquirer editorial quoted the late Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil’s pointing out that “Ninoy did not die on that sunny Sunday afternoon in August 1983 at the Manila International Airport, for that was when he began to live forever in the hearts of his countrymen. It was Ferdinand Marcos who died that day, and he knew it.” (“The day Ninoy began to live forever”)

For its part, the Star editorial pointed out that despite his not making it past the airport that now bears his name, his death “awakened a nation and galvanized a movement to end an oppressive regime.” (“Remembering“)

Columnists who recalled Aquino’s life and that fateful afternoon include Ambeth Ocampo, Ma. Ceres Doyo, John Nery and Efren Cruz.

Among the media’s role is to enlighten the public on the details, context and meaning of such historic events as Ninoy’s assassination.  Some media organizations thankfully provided reports and other pieces on its significance at a time when there are efforts afoot to diminish its role in the overthrow of the Marcos tyranny and the restoration of democratic institutions, the free press among them.