EDITORIAL - Faith in the Filipino

The escape of Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi was pushed out of the headlines by the Oakwood mutiny. Now that incident has in turn been overshadowed by Jose Pidal and Victoria Toh. With political and security jitters, the peso and share prices slid once more, hitting a 31-month low yesterday. Amid such scandals, amid a torrent of problems, is there room in the hearts of Filipinos for remembering the dead?

There has to be, if the dead is Benigno S. Aquino Jr. The commemoration of his death has grown muted over the years; a nation can remember only so much in 20 years. Yet if the nation wants to emerge from the depths of despair, it must continue to stoke the fire that Ninoy Aquino sparked.

This nation has faced darker days. The scandals and corruption attributed to "Jose Velarde" and "Jose Pidal" are nothing compared to the systematic looting of the national coffers and the oppression suffered by the nation during the years of dictatorship. Against great odds Ninoy Aquino refused to give in to despair. An authoritarian regime used everything in its power to destroy Ninoy but failed until the end to break his spirit. That spirit, that unwavering faith in the Filipino, lived on after Ninoy’s death, and eventually led to what for years seemed impossible: the undoing of a dictator.

Twenty years after, people have given up hope of unmasking the brains behind the assassination of Ninoy and his purported killer Rolando Galman. But there is no reason to give up on Ninoy’s belief that the Filipino is worth dying for. In his last letter to his wife, hours before he was felled by an assassin’s bullet 20 years ago today, Ninoy expressed hope that Filipinos would appreciate his sacrifice.

Amid disappointment and cynicism over the current state of affairs in this country, we can keep in mind that once upon a time, in the not too distant past, there was a man who refused to give in to despair, who maintained his belief in the Filipino’s capacity for doing what is right.