Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas urged Filipinos to learn from the "daily dyings" of the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., saying the best lessons in life come from when people are experiencing darkness, and not while they are in the limelight.
Villegas said this as he presided over a Holy Mass for the 39th anniversary of Aquino's assassination on Sunday, August 21.
In his homily, the prelate said Filipinos remember Aquino by how he was "assassinated in the hands of powerful men" upon his return to his home country in 1983. However, he noted that the late Senator had already died numerous times even before his life ended at the tarmac of the then-Manila International Airport.
"When he was arrested on the 22nd of September 1972, something in him died. imprisoned for seven years. Almost all those years in solitary confinement, those were dyings every day," he said.
"He was dying when his family couldn't find him. When he was convicted before a military tribunal, he was dying. His only crime was he stood up for the truth, and he wanted the truth to be free." he added.
Archbishop Villegas said Filipinos should remember the lessons Aquino learned in his lifetime.
"Success can give you victory, but only pain, only darkness, only daily dying can build character," he said.
"The important lessons in life, we learn in solitary confinement -- when faith was being tested, when friends were being far away, when family was difficult to hug. Those times were difficult times, and those times were also the most fruitful times for learning the most important lessons in life," he added.
Villegas said it is understandable that people would seek to destroy darkness, but he also reminded the public that the Lord teaches everyone to "choose the narrow door."
"There are lessons only darkness can teach. The lessons the easy living teaches us are lessons that drive us away from the path of the Lord," he said.
"Righteousness in darkness, light in darkness, these are the lessons we remember today on August 21st," he added.
Ninoy's memory will live on
According to Villegas, Aquino's memory will live on because he was honest, truthful, and selfless.
"The memory lives on because that is the reward of being honest, this is the reward of being truthful, this is the reward of being selfless, this is the reward of standing up for freedom," he said.
"You live forever, you are remembered forever, and you are set as an example for others to follow," he added.
The Archbishop also warned that "there will be reckoning" for those who did Aquino wrong.
"There will be reckoning. You can win in an election, but only truth-tellers can win the gates of heaven," he said.
"You can be rich by accepting bribes and not paying taxes, but only men and women of integrity have the credibility to lead by example. You can allow the trolls to top you in the surveys, but only humble, selfless leadership can inspire," he added.
"You can kill your opponents by a bullet, but only God can make the dead live forever," he continued.
Villegas said the truth would eventually surface.
"Maaari niyong baguhin ang sulat ng kasaysayan at maaari nating gawing bayani ang mga mandarambong. Subalit, walang lihim na hindi mabubunyag at hindi natutulog ang Diyos (You can rewrite history and make a corrupt man a hero. But the truth will come out as the Lord does not sleep)," he said.
Republic Act No. 2956, signed into law by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in February 2004, declares August 21 of every year a non-working holiday to commemorate Aquino's assassination.
The law requires the EDSA People Power Commission to hold activities in observance of the holiday.
Aquino was a critic of the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos who placed the Philippines under martial law in September 1972.
Despite being arrested following the declaration, Aquino continued to resist Marcos' rule. However, he and his family moved to the United States after he suffered a heart attack in March 1980.
Aquino was assassinated upon returning to Manila from the United States on August 21, 1983, at the age of 50, after exiting the plane which had brought him home while two military escorts guarded him.
He was the husband of the late President Corazon Aquino, who came to power through the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1985. They raised five children together, including the late President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and media personality Kris Aquino.