No Aug. 21 ‘distortion’ this year, notes Aquino scion
Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise that President Marcos is currently all eyes and ears on anomalous mega flood control projects, thus leaving him no time to engage in “historical distortion” on Ninoy Aquino Day.
This was the sentiment of Francis “Kiko” Aquino-Dee, deputy executive director of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation, in reaction to Malacañang keeping Aug. 21 this year a nonworking holiday to commemorate the assassination of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Aquino-Dee’s grandfather.
“I think President Marcos has a lot on his plate right now, and I think historical distortion, thankfully, wasn’t on it this year,” he said.
“But we will continue to be vigilant not just for his term but in the coming years so that people will remember what the Filipino people were able to do in the period from 1983 to 1986,” Aquino-Dee told reporters on the sidelines of the 42nd death anniversary rites for Ninoy at Manila Memorial Park.
Last year, Malacañang moved the celebration of Ninoy Aquino Day to Aug. 23, which fell on a Friday, citing “holiday economics.” The move was slammed by members of the Aquino family and antidictatorship groups who felt it was an attempt to distort history.
Still no justice
Talk of reconciliation between the two political families is also out of the question for as long as the Marcoses refuse to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the dictatorial rule of the elder Marcos, said Aquino-Dee.
“There is no reconciliation without justice,” he stressed. “For as long as there’s no such recognition, I don’t think there’s much to say between our two families.”
Aquino-Dee, a grandson of the late President Cory and late Sen. Ninoy, is a coconvener of the Buhay ang People Power Campaign Network. He also leads another civic movement called “Justice for All,” which was launched on Aug. 17, the day after the 8th death anniversary of drug war victim Kian delos Santos.
The group is gearing up for the first day of Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Sept. 23.
“The idea is to seek justice for victims of EJKs (extrajudicial killings), victims of the drug war. This is similar to the fight to seek genuine justice for the victims of martial law,” said Dee.
Atom reborn
Meanwhile, the jogging protests reminiscent of the resistance mounted by the middle class against the Marcos regime in the 1980s are back, but this time they are directed against attempts to revise history and weaken democratic values under the Marcos Jr. administration.
The August Twenty-One Movement (Atom), which was formed by former Sen. Agapito “Butz” Aquino shortly after his older brother Ninoy’s assassination in 1983, has found an ally in joggers, runners and cyclists in attempting to revive the spirit of peaceful demonstrations that marked the last years of the Marcos Sr. regime.
Atom became active again in response to last year’s attempts in the House of Representatives to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, followed by the recent decision of the Senate to archive the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.
“The 1987 Constitution, as you know, is an offspring of the People Power revolution and the struggle to free ourselves from martial law,” said Atom president Volt Bohol.
Young blood
Atom has about 100 members nationwide, including some of the original members who were there at the height of the antidictatorship struggle.
One of them is Ramon Balang, one of the aircraft mechanics assigned at the then Manila International Airport on the day Ninoy Aquino was shot as he stepped out of a plane.
“It’s important to let Filipinos know that they [the Marcoses] are trying to revise the stories, the narratives. Up to this day, we should be able to keep Atom alive through actual witnesses and books,” Balang told the Inquirer.
Since its revival, Atom has also welcomed young blood, including members of cycling organizations such as Siklista Pilipino and Kalye Serye, both of which are part of the umbrella group Bikers for Leni that was formed for the 2022 presidential campaign of former Vice President and now Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo.
On Sunday, Atom and its jogging partners held a commemorative activity called “In Memory of Butz, Inspired by Ninoy,” as a lead-off to this year’s 42nd death anniversary of Ninoy as well as the 10th death anniversary of Butz.
