MANILA, Philippines - The Senate will hold a special mass today in honor of the late former senator Agapito “Butz” Aquino, a man who stood by his principles against the Marcos dictatorship and the hosting of US bases in the country, Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday.
Drilon said the Senate will be handing over resolutions of condolences to Butz’s family after the requiem mass set at 2 p.m. at the Senate session hall.
Drilon and Sens. Lito Lapid and Nancy Binay filed the resolutions, which were approved prior to the early adjournment of session yesterday.
The Senate has also set the Philippine flag at half-mast in honor of the late senator.
Butz’s nephew and godson, Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, said his uncle did not want any fanfare after his death.
“He did not even want a wake, that’s why his remains were cremated. The daily masses were decided by the family,” he said.
A 1 p.m. mass will be held on Friday at La Salle Greenhills in San Juan and on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Loyola House of Studies Chapel at the Ateneo campus in Quezon City, both to be officiated by Fr. Manoling Francisco.
The urn containing Butz’s ashes will be brought to the Senate session today. No necrological service will be held.
Drilon said he best remembers Butz as a principled man.
He recalled that Butz voted against the ratification of the treaty for the US bases even if it cost him “hundreds of thousands of votes” in Central Luzon, which resulted in his placing 24th in the elections.
“I remember he believed strongly in cooperatives as a way of uplifting poverty in the countryside. He was a very conscientious proponent of rural development through cooperatives. In that sense, the cooperative movement in our country has lost a champion,” he added.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday extended his sympathy and prayers to Butz’s family on behalf of his colleagues in the House of Representatives.
Belmonte said Butz would always be remembered as instrumental in “reclaiming our democracy by founding ATOM or the August Twenty-One Movement that was usually at the forefront of protests against the dictatorship.”
“Butz has served our country not just as a congressman and senator but gave up his life in the private sector and as a movie actor to actively participate in the parliament of the streets after his brother Ninoy’s assassination,” he said. – With Paolo Romero