18th death anniversary of Ninoy marked

HACIENDA LUISITA, Tar—lac — Tarlaqueños mark today the 18th death anniversary of martyred Sen. Benigno "Ni—noy" Aquino Jr. with the unveiling of a memorial center named in his honor at this 6,000-hectare sugar estate.

The Ninoy Aquino Memorial Center, located along the main road leading to this Cojuangco-owned hacienda, will house the memorabilia of the late senator, who was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983 at the tarmac of the country’s international airport.

The center’s inauguration, which starts at 2 p.m., will be led by Ninoy’s widow, former President Corazon Aquino, their only son, Tarlac Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Mrs. Aquino’s younger brother, former Tarlac Rep. Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr., and his wife, former Tarlac Gov. Margarita "Tingting" Cojuangco, and other members of the Cojuangco and Aquino clans.

The Ninoy Aquino Memorial Center will have an audiovisual room where visitors can watch a documentary on the life and heroic death of the late senator.

Before becoming a national figure in the late 1960s and the 1970s, Ninoy was mayor of his hometown of Concepcion in 1955.

In 1959, he became the province’s vice governor, and assumed the gubernatorial post in 1961 after the late Gov. Arsenio Lugay Sr. resigned from office.

In 1963, Ninoy was elected governor, and in 1967, he won a Senate seat as a candidate of the Liberal Party.

It was during his stint as a senator that he became the political arch-enemy of the late former President Marcos, who imprisoned him for seven years, seven months and seven days shortly after the late dictator declared martial law.

After spending a brief self-exile in the United States where he underwent a triple heart bypass, Ninoy returned to the country in 1983 and was assassinated at the international airport which was later named after him.