The Freeman: From darkest of nights to brightest of days

CEBU, Philippines - These are the two issues of The Freeman that chronicled the plunge of this country to the darkest depths and its subsequent rise to the most luminous of heights.

The first is an Extra Edition of Ninoy Aquino’s murder. It came out on the same day as the assassination, just four hours after the opposition leader was killed at the Manila Airport on August 21, 1983. Made up only of one page, with no printed back, all its 2,500 copies sold out within 30 minutes. The Freeman was the only newspaper in the entire country to come out with the news of the assassination on the same day.

The other is a regular edition that came out in the morning of February 26, 1986 after Ferdinand Marcos fled with his family into exile in Hawaii the previous night and Cory Aquino was swept into power in the aftermath of the Edsa People Power Revolt. - JST (THE FREEMAN)