Remembering Ninoy

Benigno 'Ninoy' S. Aquino, Jr. (Source)

21st of August 1983, the year that was. In the tarmac of then Manila International Airport with the Philippines eagerly waiting for your return. A bang, a gunshot - it took your life, but never your legacy.

"But I knew, that somehow, I will regain my freedom, maybe not in this world, but elsewhere, and I knew, that sometime, somewhere, Mr. Marcos and I will meet, and in that meeting I will have my satisfaction." Freedom rally symposium by the Movement for Free Philippines. Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles, California; February 15, 1981 (Credits: Quotation Source)

Thirty years after (now it's raining and flooding like forever in your Motherland), we remember and celebrate your greatness. Your death sparked a realization that there is power in unity and that the government is for the Filipinos.

"I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for because he is the nation’s greatest untapped resource.” (Quote taken from here)

I was born 54 years after you were born (I am equally proud to have a famous personality with the same birthday), 3 years after your death and months after the First EDSA People Power Revolution. My eyes may not have personally witnessed your deeds but I believe that you were someone we the new generation of Filipinos could look up to. Someone who is willing to do much even if that means sacrificing your family, your freedom and even your life to a nation you firmly believed in so much.

"There is no greater nation on earth than our Motherland. No greater people than our own. Serve them with all your heart, with all your might and with all your strength." Ninoy's letter to Noynoy (Benigno Aquino III) on August 25, 1973. (Credits: Quotation Source)

With all the issues and anomalies confronting our government today, may those in power and authority including your son President P-Noy remember that their mandate is to serve and put the nation and the Filipinos' welfare before their own. If you were here, I don't think you would be glad to know that the taxes that could have provided beneficial projects for most of the Filipinos went  into some greedy persons bank accounts.

Thanks for perpetrating the freedom that we are enjoying now. Thanks for making me a proud Filipino. I hope that we have lived up to your expectations; may we be the modern Ninoy's who have something to give for the country to gain.

Ako ay Pilipino, sa isip, sa salita at sa gawa.