On Sunday, the Philippines celebrates the life of a democratic hero, Ninoy Aquino. Will Marcos Jr. permit the survival of a holiday dedicated to his family's arch-rival?
n an August afternoon in 1983, a passenger jet carrying Philippine Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. landed in Manila. The popular politician was returning from self-imposed exile in Boston to mount a courageous challenge to the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., whose troops escorted him off the aircraft. Then gunshots rang out—at least four. Horrified passengers looked through the windows to see the senator’s lifeless body lying on the tarmac.
Filipinos were already tired of the two-decade Marcos dictatorship, with its rights violations, martial law, rampant corruption, and tanking economy. But Aquino’s assassination, in broad daylight, was the last straw. The senator’s widow, Corazon, led a popular uprising three years later, forcing Marcos and his family into exile in Hawaii, where the dictator died in 1989.
For his sacrifice, Aquino became a posthumously venerated figure. In 1987, the place of his killing was renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport. In 2004, the date of his assassination, Aug. 21, was declared a national holiday. But, 39 years after the senator’s slaying, the Marcos family is back in power and Aquino’s place in history is under threat.
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