Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport shortly after his 1 P.M. arrival that fateful Sunday, August 21, 1983.
Ninoy would have turned 51 that November 27.
Sadly, that wasn’t meant to be for Ninoy who was considered the “wonder boy of Philippine politics” for having been the youngest mayor at age 22, youngest vice governor at 27, governor of Tarlac at 29 and the youngest elected senator at 34.
A man who believed in his impossible dream and that Filipinos are worth dying for, Ninoy returned to have an appointment with the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos to pursue his mission to convince him to restore democracy.
His assassination confirmed that his appointment was with God instead, that his final God-given mission for his country would be at the expense of his life, with his 1983 assassination/death as the powerful/early trigger for the 1986 People’s Power that ultimately toppled the Marcos dictatorship.
Ninoy Aquino didn’t only cling to his impossible dream --he gave up his life for his impossible dream for our people, for our country.
“What can one man do if the Filipino people love their slavery, if the Filipino people have lost their voice and would not say no to a tyrant, what can one man do. I have not army, I have no following, I have no money, I only have my indomitable spirit…”
This was Ninoy’s song: “To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go.
“To right the unrightable wrong, to be better far than you are, to try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star.
“This is my quest, to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far, to be willing to give when there's no more to give, to be willing to die so that honor and justice may live. And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest, that my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest.
“And the world will be better for this, that one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage, to reach the unreachable star!”
On this anniversary of his assassination, it’s worth revisiting, remembering more of Ninoy’s precious words:
“I return from exile and to an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer- faith in our people and faith in God.
“It takes little effort to stop a tyrant. I have no doubt in the ultimate victory of right over wrong, of evil over good, in the awakening of the Filipino.
“There is no greater nation on earth than our Motherland. No greater people than our own. Serve them with all your heart, with all your might and with all your strength.
“If it’s my fate to die by an assassin’s bullet, so be it.
“I will never be able to forgive myself if I will have to live with the knowledge that I could have done something and I did not do anything.
“We must not only preserve yesterday's heritage fight for today's ephemeral interests, but die if need be, for tomorrow's hopes.
“A time comes in a man's life when he must prefer a meaningful death to a meaningless life.
“I have asked myself many times: Is the Filipino worth suffering, or even dying, for? I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for.”
Remembering Ninoy today should also lead us to remember to continue to fulfill Ninoy’s dream --for our nation/our people to be finally/genuinely/completely free from poverty/inequality/corruption and injustice.