As the nation commemorates the 40th death anniversary of former Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ S. Aquino, Jr., it is well to reflect on the significance of his life and times.
Not much is known by the present generation about the fact that by the time he was 25 years old, he was already a three-time recipient of the Philippine Legion of Honor. The Philippine Legion of Honor is the primary order of military merit conferred upon a Filipino or foreign citizen in recognition of valuable and meritorious service in relation to the military affairs of the Republic of the Philippines.
President Quirino conferred this recognition on him for the first time in 1950. Then a 17-year-old reporter for the Manila Times, he covered the valiant deeds of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK). According to a historical account: “Over six million soldiers, sailors and airmen fought on both sides in the Korean War... More than three million of these were communists from North Korea, China and Russia. Opposing them were almost three million from South Korea and from 21 United Nations (UN) countries” including the Philippines.
In 1954, he received this honor anew from President Magsaysay in recognition for his efforts in negotiating the surrender of Luis Taruc, who was the supremo or chief commander of communist insurgent forces in Central Luzon. In 1957, he merited this distinction for his services in the government’s peace and order campaign.
These achievements affirm his abiding commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy that foreshadowed his political career.
Despite his long period of incarceration and forced exile, Ninoy Aquino maintained his equanimity, affirming his fidelity to the ideals of democracy that are fostered through the ways of peace. In 1978, he ran for a seat in the Batasang Pambansa, in order to be able to communicate with the people, even from the confines of his detention cell in a military camp.
His assassination on the tarmac of the Manila international airport that has been named after him triggered a chain of events that accelerated the restoration of democracy in the country. His wife Corazon ascended to the presidency in the aftermath of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
The Filipino people ratified a new Constitution that restored a system of representative democracy with three separate and independent branches of government: the Executive, a bicameral Legislature, and the Judiciary. This came about 15 years after martial law was declared by President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. to stem the tide of communist insurgency.
In the speech that he intended to deliver upon his arrival in Manila on August 21, 1983, a key excerpt reads as follows:
“On one of the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald Macleish: ‘How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always, and in the final act, by determination and faith.’"
Ninoy Aquino’s enduring legacy was his commitment to freedom and democracy that was propagated with equal fervor by both his wife Corazon and his son Benigno III when they served as President of the Philippines. The memory of his heroic deeds lives on in the hearts and minds of millions of grateful Filipinos.