MANILA Philippines – Filipinos celebrated the 28th death anniversary of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. who was assassinated at the then Manila International Airport (MIA) while returning from exile in the United States.
Ninoy’s death marks the start of Filipino’s awakening during the Marcos regime that leads to people’s uprising, the People Power and installation of a new leader, President Corazon C. Aquino in the 1986 elections.
The MIA is now the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Ninoy’s wife became the President after Marcos and his only son is now the President of the Republic.
President Aquino and his siblings remembered Ninoy’s death quietly with a private Mass yesterday.
In a statement, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda called on the public to remember Ninoy’s sacrifice for the country.
“May the Filipino people never forget him and the many others who fought for the restoration of our democracy, and may future generations continue to hold dear the example Ninoy Aquino set for us through his life, his struggles and his sacrifice,” Lacierda said.
As part of remembering his death, different activities were held in different parts of the country participated by different sectors of Philippine society to pay tribute to the man who “set aside his own personal comfort, his interest and even his life to achieve greater good for the whole country”.
There were calls in the past to reopen the case but the Aquino family rejected these. The soldiers convicted of murder served their time in prison, some of them dying in detention.
