Democracy celebrates Ninoy's martyrdom

Tomorrow, we mark the 26th death anniversary and martyrdom of Ninoy Aquino. Benigno S. Aquino Jr., to this day, remains to be one of the greatest Filipinos in Philippine history. By being a great Filipino, I refer to his life and work of sacrifice and martyrdom for the benefit of the Filipino people. When his wife, the former President Cory Aquino died this month, the people rallied together, not only to mourn her death, but to relive the spirit of quiet revolution began by Ninoy.               

At the young age of 17, Ninoy had a vision of greatness for the nation and he had wanted to be President of the country. He started a career in preparation for his goal. He served as the youngest war correspondent in the Korean War. Five years after, as a young reporter of the Manila Times, his articles paved the way to the surrender of rebel leader Supremo Luis Taruc. His political ambitions inspired him to rise in the ranks early in his 20s. From being elected Mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac at age 22, he became Vice Governor of Tarlac Province at age 27; the youngest Governor of the said province at age 29; and the youngest Senator of the Republic of the Philippines at the age of 35. His strong opposition to the un-democratic ways of former strongman President Marcos (ironically, his friend and co-fraternity) sent him to prison and exile. At the lowest point in his life, he was moved to forget his political ambition and vowed to unite the people to attain freedom and democracy. He would later be assassinated, making him a martyr and hero at the young age of 51.   

Twenty six years after his death, Ninoy’s memory lingers on and so strongly that when his wife died, it seemed as if the spirit of EDSA I became alive once more. His death was not in vain for we now enjoy freedom and democracy. Imperfect as it is, as many critics of President Arroyo would claim, at least, the state of our democracy is in a far better situation than it was more than 30 years ago under the Marcos authoritarian regime. Described in a 1987 Time article, Marcos’s dictatorial rule ”moved our country backward, from democracy to autocracy, from prosperity to poverty, from general peace to a widespread Communist insurgency”. Now, I can say that our democratic processes are in place – we can freely choose our leaders during election, nobody is jailed, tortured or assassinated for criticizing a high official, every sector of society is represented in the lawmaking process, corruption and bribery are exposed and investigated no matter who commits them, people can rally and protest at will provided no one gets hurt or disturbed.       Way back in 1987, seven out of ten Filipinos lived below the poverty level. And although our poverty level is at 24.4 percent at present, according to a United Nations report, it has decreased (from 44.2 percent in a 1985 report), despite the steady increase in population, under the succeeding administrations including the present. The sad part is there are still many Filipinos languishing in poverty and the gap between the poor and the rich remains wide so to speak. Despite this, opportunities abound and the nation is proud of its workers who can compete in the global arena and are known as industrious, hospitable and prayerful people. All of us, especially our chosen leaders, must strive to uplift the poor from their situation if we want to be truly successful as a democratic nation.   

Communist insurgency in Marcos’ time has declined but the government struggles to keep peace in Mindanao and secure the nation from terroristic threats. Our government has instituted a peace framework in a continuous effort to resolve the conflicts in Mindanao. The government and the military exercise utmost tolerance in dealing with the MILF and use military force only when necessary, mindful of their rights as a people, despite the atrocities they have committed. But to protect our democracy, our government must be more decisive in dealing with these rebels and insurgents who threaten our peace.

Celebrating our freedom and democracy is the best way to commemorate Ninoy’s sacrifice and martyrdom for us Filipinos, for whom he had thought his life was worth giving. Future leaders can learn a lot from his vision, with a passion that awakened a nation’s consciousness to defend their freedom. As for us, may we be found faithful to those ideals and be responsible keepers of the freedom we now enjoy.