Ninoy: Meaningful life, meaningful death

When Bimby Aquino Yap, his mother Kris Aquino and older brother Joshua were living in One Roxas Triangle, he could see from the window of their apartment a statue that piqued his curiosity.

It was the statue of his late grandfather Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino being led by two soldiers down a flight of stairs, symbolic of the moments before he was gunned down at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983. That statue stands at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in the Makati Central Business District.

“It was Noy (former President Noynoy Aquino) who explained to Bimb all about his Lolo Ninoy and the soldiers he kept seeing (in the statue) and they had a long talk about martial law and his assassination,” Kris recalls, adding Bimby was about five or six years old then and was probably having a sleepover at the presidential residence Bahay Pangarap while she was out of the country on business.

Ninoy did not live long enough to see any of his grandchildren (Jiggy and Jonty Cruz, Miguel and Nina Abellada, Kiko and Jia Dee, Joshua and Bimby). The older grandchildren were born while their grandmother Cory was President, and they probably knew early on that they were no ordinary people in the sense that the international airport was named after their lolo and that both their grandparents were on the face of the P500 bill.

“Mom was such a doting and devoted lola and shared a lot of Lolo Ninoy stories with them as well. She would bring them sometimes to some ‘Ninoy’ events  so they were and are quite aware of the lolo they never met,” says Pinky Aquino-Abellada, when  asked how she described her late father to her children Miguel and Nina.

At last Monday’s commemoration of the 34th death anniversary of Ninoy by his tomb at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City, his grandchildren were probably surprised at the large crowd, considering their Tito Noy is no longer president and they have all retreated into the bliss of an “ordinary” life. Somehow, last Monday’s crowd was the biggest I have seen in years. My driver even commented, “Siguro, tuwang-tuwang si Sir Ninoy ngayon.”

When asked why he still bothered to make a stand on certain issues even when he could just enjoy his retirement from public life, former President Noynoy Aquino said, “Ako ho may mga pamangkin, masabi natin tama ginawa ko at hindi tayo nagkulang.” (I have nephews and nieces, and I’d like to be able to say I did the right thing and didn’t fall short of trying.”)

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It was heartwarming to see “old, familiar faces” at the Mass concelebrated by Bishop Ambo David, Father Catalino Arevalo, SJ and Father Manny Domingo by the tombs of Ninoy and Cory, which were bedecked in yellow flowers. There were those who served in Cory’s administration like Sen. Frank Drilon, former spokesman Rene Saguisag, former undersecretary Deedee Siytangco, street parliamentarian Reli German, former GSIS GM Cesar Sarino and wife Teena, former Public Works Secretary Ping de Jesus, and former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. Members of  the Liberal Party and P-Noy’s cabinet also braved the rains to remember Ninoy, including Vice President Leni Robredo, Senators Francis Pangilinan, Sonny Trillanes and Bam Aquino, former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, former Budget Secretary Butch Abad, former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman, former Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez and former BIR chief Kim Henares. Volunteers brought yellow flowers, sandwiches, bottled water, even an ice cream cart!

After the crowd sang Impossible Dream after the Mass, Japanese journalist Kiyoshi Wakamiya, who was on the same fateful flight as Ninoy 34 years ago, shook his head and said sadly, “That was the last song Ninoy ever heard. It was played in the house of a friend in Taipei before he took the plane to Manila.”

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Thankfully, the Mass didn’t turn out to be an anti-administration rally and no one called for the ouster of President Duterte. The day before, Kris Aquino even thanked the President for calling her father a “patriot” and extolling his courage and other virtues in an official message released by Malacañang.

“Honestly, this message from the Palace was unexpected but very much appreciated,” Kris said in an Instagram post. “As a daughter, these words recognizing our father’s place in Philippine history and democracy were exceptionally heartwarming.”

Ninoy Aquino will always be a rallying point, a beacon when the light of democracy is wavering. Most Filipinos have not expressed collective outrage over the killings of alleged drug pushers and users because they feel the streets have become safer for their children.

However, the recent killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, who was seen in surveillance footage as not putting up a fight against the policemen who arrested him, is a spark that threatens to rage on. Raging on against the impunity of the killers, especially since it was found out from the Public Attorney’s Office that Kian was “intentionally killed” with three “treacherous wounds” to the head and back.  Kian’s death is both a spark, a snowflake. It can lead to a conflagration or an avalanche.

President Duterte has promised that if the cops involved are proven guilty, they will “rot in jail.” I am certain the outrage has made the President — a doting grandfather himself — realize that Kian’s death is not just a statistic in his war against drugs.

Ninoy Aquino, who was not afraid to speak out against injustice, taught by example that silence can be as deadly as a bullet, and that inaction also kills.

To me, Ninoy Aquino’s name is synonymous with vigilance, and regardless of whoever is in power — yellow, red, white, blue or technicolor — vigilance should be present, like the air we breathe. Yes, sustaining us like the air we breathe.  

(You may e-mail me at  [email protected].)